SWIMMING U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS : Quance to Skip Showdown With Evans in 400 Medley

What was expected to be intense competition between Kristine Quance and Janet Evans on the opening day of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials fizzled because Quance was weakened by mononucleosis.

Quance said Saturday that she will skip today’s individual medley to conserve her strength for her specialty, the 200 breaststroke, which will be contested Monday.

“It is sad, in a way,” Quance said. “Maybe it’ll work out for the best because I can concentrate on the breaststroke.”

Quance, 16, of Northridge, defeated Evans in their last meeting, the Pan Pacific Championships in August at Edmonton, Canada.

But Evans, the 1988 Olympic triple gold medalist from Placentia, had a faster time during the year, 4 minutes 44.07 seconds, six-tenths of a second faster than Quance’s best.

Summer Sanders, 19, of Roseville, Calif., has the fastest recent time by an American, a 4:41.46, and is the favorite to win the first of two berths on the 1992 Olympic team.

Evans, unaware of Quance’s plans, said at a news conference Saturday that the pressure is off her in the 400 individual medley.

“No one is expecting me to do anything any more,” Evans said. “I’ve been having so many problems. However I do is however I do. You’ve got to keep moving on and not let one race distract you.”

Evans’ desire to swim the 400 individual medley is part of the reason she left Stanford and Coach Richard Quick last spring to train with Coach Mark Schubert at Texas Aquatics.

“I don’t want to give up in that event,” she said. “I lost a lot of confidence, but I still think I have it in me.”

Evans, the American record-holder (4:37.76) and ’88 Olympic gold medalist in the event, briefly considered skipping it, then decided “I couldn’t watch it.”

In Quance’s absence, Erika Hansen, a 1988 Olympian, and Amy Shaw, a former Mission Viejo swimmer, could challenge Sanders and Evans.

The women’s 100 freestyle and the men’s 100 breaststroke and 200 freestyle also will be contested today in preliminary and final sessions at the Indiana University Natatorium.

The meet, the earliest the U.S. team has been selected, continues through Friday.

Angel Martino, Dara Torres, Nicole Haislett and Jenny Thompson are the top contenders in the 100 freestyle.

Unlike the other women’s events, the third- and fourth-place finishers are not left off the U.S. team. They will be on the 400 freestyle relay team.