Swimmer Carvin Has High Expectations; Kagy Looking to Have Fun : Boys’ swimming: Laguna Hills senior, fresh off Olympic Trials, looks for third consecutive 2-A 200 freestyle title.

Chad Carvin always seems to have an eye to the future.

At age 6, he joined the South Coast Aquatic Club. A week later, he asked to be moved up a division so he could swim against the 10-year-olds.

“I just had a feel for the water,” said Carvin, now a senior at Laguna Hills.

So it should come as no surprise that less than a week after returning from his first Olympic Trials, Carvin is already planning for 1996.

“I think I’m one of the better distance swimmers coming up,” he said. “If I keep improving, I should do real well in ’96.”

Brash talk for an 18-year-old, but it might be foolish to doubt him.

After all, he is coming off a strong performance in the Olympic Trials, where he posted his best times in the 1,500-, 800- and 400-meter freestyles. Those performances have given him a boost of confidence heading into his final season at Laguna Hills.

Carvin, already one of the top freestyle swimmers in the Southern Section, will be looking to win the 200 freestyle at the 2-A meet for the third consecutive year. He is also the defending champion in the 500 freestyle.

Repeating would be nice, but Carvin has even higher aspirations.

“If I can get back to training real hard, I might have a shot at the national high school record in the 500,” he said.

Carvin, who has signed a letter of intent with Arizona, already holds the 2-A record in the 500. He set it last season with a time of 4 minutes 22.08 seconds, which was more than a second below the mark of 4:23.67, set by Woodbridge’s Chad Hundeby in 1988.

The national high school record is 4:16.39, set by Jeff Kostoff of Upland in 1983.

“I think I have a shot at it,” Carvin said.

Carvin dedicated himself to training for the Olympic Trials last summer. Although he had little chance of making the Olympic team, he felt a strong showing would improve his chances for 1996.

It may have.

He finished 10th in the 1,500 with a time of 15:36.70, 13th in the 400 with a time of 3:56.70 and second in the 800 with a time of 8:09.45.

(The 800 is not an Olympic event, so there wasn’t as strong a field in the event during the Trials.)

“I went into the meet not expecting too much,” Carvin said. “It was the Olympic Trials, you know. But I came out with my best times. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

He began swimming competitively at 6, but was a sprinter until his freshman year in high school.

That’s when Carvin reluctantly agreed to try the 500 freestyle in a meet against Woodbridge. He was lapped by Hundeby, who was then a senior, but still qualified for the 2-A meet.

“I really hated it,” Carvin said. “I wanted to swim the 200 at the (2-A) meet, but I tried to get out of the 500. I found out you can’t. Once you have signed up, you can’t scratch.”

He actually did better in the 500, finishing 10th, than he did in the 200, where he finished 13th.

“From then on, I was a distance swimmer,” Carvin said.

1992 Boys’ Swim Preview

Top teams: 4-A--Ventura Buena, Capistrano Valley, El Toro, Foothill, Mission Viejo, San Marino. 3-A--Los Alamitos, Santa Monica. 2-A--Brea-Olinda, Laguna Hills, Trabuco Hills, Walnut.

Top swimmers: 4-A--Matt Braun (Marina), Paul Brockmeier (Villa Park), Tim Chaix (Foothill), Pat Collins (Tustin), Robert Delgado (Mission Viejo), Mike Greene (El Toro), Adam Grodzky (Mission Viejo), Daniel Julson (El Toro), David Katz (Foothill), Marcin Malinski (Mission Viejo), Mark Perkins (Huntington Beach), Ian Pyka (El Toro), Jay Reaves (El Toro), Brian Ronson (Irvine), Steven Salata (Foothill), Keith Schuhrke (Fountain Valley), John Simmons (El Toro), Ted Simpkins (Corona del Mar), Matt Squires (Mission Viejo), Matt Tilton (El Toro), Frank Tsai (Huntington Beach), Matt Turnbull (Mission Viejo). 3-A--Omar Amir (Sunny Hills), Bryce Binger (Buena Park), Daniel Lupash (Los Alamitos), Paul Marceau (Sonora), David Michaels (Los Alamitos), Kyle Pagett (Los Alamitos), Scott Seminoff (La Habra); 2-A--Mike Bannostran (Trabuco Hills), Brett Bhesania (La Quinta), Tim Bostrom (Brea-Olinda), Bill Brown (Brea-Olinda), Chad Carvin (Laguna Hills), Scott Estrada (Brea-Olinda), Ian Gilbert (Laguna Hills), Mike Grizzle (Rancho Alamitos), Shoichi Matsumoto (Laguna Hills), Ryan Thacher (Trabuco Hills), Scott Valentine (Trabuco Hills), Calvin Weis (Kennedy), Scott Wester (Trabuco Hills).

Top divers: 4-A--Jason David (Capistrano Valley), Jason Hubbart (Mission Viejo), Tyce Routson (El Toro), Nate Smith (Dana Hills), Zack Williams (Irvine); 3-A--Jason Gall (El Dorado), Brian Lawson (Buena Park), David Revere (Sonora), Gary Revere (Sonora); 2-A--Jeff Nichols (Laguna Hills).

Important dates: Southern Section diving finals, May 13 (4-A), May 14 (2-A) and May 15 (3-A); Southern Section swim finals, May 15 (4-A) and May 16 (3-A and 2-A).