SWIMMING U.S OLYMPIC TRIALS : Nall Sets World Record Twice; Morales Wins

In the eyes of her classmates at Towson (Md.) Catholic School, Anita Nall is a bookish, swimming nerd with permanently wet hair and an early bed time.

After shattering the world record twice in the 200-meter breaststroke Monday at the U.S. Olympic trials, Nall hasn’t changed any minds, but she has admirers.

“My friends always tell me I’m crazy,” Nall said. “You don’t want them to think that all you are is this nerd who does school work and swims, so you try to go out with them sometimes and have fun.”

Nall’s personal idea of fun was a 2-minute 25.92-second world-record time in the morning preliminaries, almost eight-tenths of a second better than former East German Silke Hoerner’s mark of 2:26.71 set at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

Eight hours later, Nall used her high-riding style and powerful kick to break the record again. This time, she touched in 2:25.35 before a sold-out Indiana University Natatorium crowd of 4,700.

The other race that earned a standing ovation was Pablo Morales’ winning effort in the 100 butterfly.

Nall, 15, became the first American woman to hold the 200 breaststroke world record since Catie Ball set it in Los Angeles in 1968, and held it until ’74.

“You have to do what you have to do, to do what you want to do,” Nall said.

She led from the start and won her heat by 3.2 seconds.

“That’s the best kick I’ve ever seen by a female breaststroker,” said CLASS Aquatics Coach Bud McAllister, whose swimmer Kristin Quance finished third behind Nall and Jill Johnson.

Nall set her sights on the world mark after setting an American record 2:27.08 last spring.

“You have to reset goals,” she said. “The American record changed my way of looking at times.”

Downplaying Nall’s youth, North Baltimore Aquatics Coach Murray Stephens said: “Competitively she’s about 25. She likes to compete.”

So does Morales, who left law school to return to the sport last summer after a three-year retirement.

Morales capped his comeback with a berth on the ’92 team after only seven months of training with Stanford Coach Skip Kenney.

The sentimental favorite, Morales was considered a dark horse in a field including Brian Alderman of Santa Barbara, the last American to break 54 seconds in the event; Matt Biondi of Castro Valley, Calif., the ’88 silver medalist, and Melvin Stewart, the world record-holder in the 200 butterfly.

Stewart nearly chased Morales down in the last 10 meters of the race, but Morales hung on and touched in 54.05 to Stewart’s 54.06.

Biondi finished sixth in 54.68 and did not make the team in the event. Only the top two finishers in each individual event qualify.

Alderman, who was hampered by a knee injury, missed a berth on the team after clocking a 54.79 in the preliminaries.

Times have changed for Morales, who still holds the world record (52.84) in the 100 butterfly. He was the heavy favorite in the ’88 trials in both butterfly events, but he finished third in both races and promptly retired.

“It is funny how things work,” Morales said.

Swimming Notes

Nicole Haislett swam the second-fastest 200 freestyle ever by an American, a 1:58.65, to win the event. Jenny Thompson took the other berth in 1:59.98. . . . Eric Namesnik won the 400 individual medley in 4:15.60, just off his 1990 American record of 4:15.21. Former USC All-American David Wharton earned a berth on the team with a second-place finish in 4:17.58.