SWIMMING / THERESA MUNOZ : The Future Looks Golden for U.S. Women

During a three-week period beginning with the U.S. Olympic trials and ending Saturday with the NCAA championships, American women set two world records and 15 American records.

After a 1988 Olympics during which American women were limited in individual events to Janet Evans’ three gold medals and Mary T. Meagher’s bronze medal, the U.S. women’s team has rebounded.

With Summer Sanders, Jenny Thompson, Anita Nall, Evans, Janie Wagstaff, Crissy Ahmann-Leighton, Nicole Haislett and Lea Loveless leading the way, Americans are expected to win more medals than any other team at Barcelona.

Which is not to say the United States will dominate despite the demise of the East Germans.

Potential medalists have emerged during the last two years from nations such as China, Hungary, Denmark, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Norway.

Among the names to know: Lin Li, Qian Hong, Wang Xiaohong and Yang Wenyi of China, Kristina Egerszegi and Tunde Szabo of Hungary, Mette Jacobsen of Denmark, and Linley Frame and Haley Lewis of Australia.

Sanders, a Stanford sophomore who was voted swimmer of the meet for the second consecutive year, attributed the unprecedented 11 American records at the NCAA meet to the atmosphere.

“The energy on the deck was really pulling all these swims out of us,” said Sanders who won five events, set an NCAA record in the 200-yard butterfly (1:53.42) and broke the American records of her idol Tracy Caulkins in the 200 individual medley (1:55.54) and 400 individual medley (4:02.28).

The other individual American records were set by: Thompson, Stanford, 100 freestyle (47.61); Whitney Hedgepeth, Texas, 200 backstroke (1:52.98); Loveless, Stanford, 100 backstroke (52.79); Ahmann-Leighton, Arizona, 100 butterfly (51.75), and Haislett, Florida, 200 freestyle (1:43.28).

With the exception of Hedgepeth, the others are on the Olympic team.

During the last 15 months, swimmers from Hungary have produced five world records.

Egerszegi broke the 100 and 200 backstroke marks, Tamas Darnyi lowered his marks in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and Norbert Rozsa wrested the 100 breaststroke record from Vasily Ivanov of the CIS.

“It comes natural,” Darnyi said during a March 11 visit to Los Angeles to accept the Amateur Athletic Foundation’s World Trophy.

“Good coaching, training very hard all the time and you have to have talent.”

Darnyi and Rozsa are coached in Budapest by Tamas Scechy, one of a long line of outstanding Hungarian coaches.

Darnyi, 25, the only man to break two minutes in the 200 medley (1:59.36), has lowered his 400 medley world mark a cumulative 3.06 seconds three times since 1987. His current mark of 4:12.36 is 2.85 seconds better than any other swimmer’s during the last 15 months.

At the Olympics, Darnyi will have the opportunity to become the first man to win both medleys in consecutive Olympiads.

Lin Li of China and Kieren Perkins of Australia also received AAF awards. Perkins, who could not attend the ceremony because of the Australian Olympic trials, lowered the 800 freestyle record twice during a six-month span, the latter to 7:46.60 on Feb. 16 in New South Wales.

Li, the 1991 world champion in the 200 and 400 medleys, made the trip from Beijing a few days after competing in the World Cup in Spain.

A product of the East German-inspired athlete selection system, Li moved from her family home in the Jiangsu province to a training center in Nainjing when she was 12.

Through an interpreter, Li said: “My training is tough, but when I think of a gold medal, I keep going.”

Former UCLA football player John Joseph didn’t know much about swimming when he became the swimming coach at Santa Monica College in 1950. But Joseph, who will retire at the end of the school year, was a quick study and a master motivator.

In 42 years, he produced 296 All-Americans, a 438-119-2 record and 21 top five finishes at the state meet.

“It’s going to be difficult to go to the Santa Monica College pool and realize he’s gone,” said Nick Steers, a veteran Los Angeles County lifeguard who was coached by Joseph in 1964 and ’65.

“What really makes him special is that he makes everyone feel good about themselves,” Steers said. “He works you and he works you hard. He always gave you the idea that you could do it as long as you keep working at it.”

A retirement dinner will be held for Joseph on May 17 at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica, 530 W. Pico Blvd. Details: Steers, (310) 452-1080.

Swimming Notes

UCLA senior Andrea Cecchi is expected to retain his 100-yard breaststroke title at the men’s NCAA championships, Thursday through Saturday in Indianapolis. Cecchi is a member of the Italian Olympic team. Other foreigners expected to do well: Iowa’s Artur Wojdat of Poland, Florida’s Martin Zubero of Spain, Michigan freshman Gustavo Borges of Brazil and USC’s Robert Pufleb of Germany.

Olympian Anita Nall, 15, of Towson, Md., will not be a college freshman until 1994, but she has already passed up her NCAA eligibility. Nall accepts $1,500 per month from U.S. Swimming for being ranked in the top five in the world since last April and she received a $10,000 bonus for breaking the 200 breaststroke world record twice at the trials.

The head coaches of the Olympic team did not place many swimmers on the squad. Mark Schubert, the women’s coach, placed Janet Evans, Erika Hansen and Lawrence Frostad on the team and Eddie Reese, the men’s coach, placed Doug Gjertsen and Shaun Jordan, the latter in solely a relay. Both coaches are from the University of Texas and Texas Aquatics. Dick Shoulberg, coach of Foxcatcher, a club team in Philadelphia, placed four men on the team and was moved from women’s assistant to men’s assistant on the Olympic staff. Stanford Coach Richard Quick placed four swimmers on the women’s team and was awarded an assistant coaching post because of their performances. California’s Nort Thornton earned a spot on the men’s squad the same way, landing six swimmers on the team.

By placing Royce Sharp and Nelson Diebel on the team, both in American record time, Chris Martin was added to the staff, becoming the first black coach ever on the U.S. coaching staff. . . . Dennis Pursley, national director of U.S. Swimming on Pablo Morales making the team: “I had two real good feelings when he made the team. No. 1, no one is more deserving, and selfishly, I know what he can do for a team from a leadership standpoint.”

Matt Biondi was facetiously looking for Mark Spitz at the trials. Spitz, who did not qualify, has been busy nonetheless. After a disappointing swim in January, he is concentrating on master’s swimming and will be guest speaker at the national age group top 16 banquet April 26 at the Sequoia Athletic Club in Buena Park.

Diebel’s preliminary effort in the 100-meter breaststroke at the trials represented the sixth time in history that the time of 1:01.49 has been recorded. Great Britain’s Adrian Moorhouse has done it three times and Rozsa has swum it twice.

UPCOMING: Swim With Mike, April 11, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at USC’s McDonald Swim Center, the 12th annual swim-a-thon, named after former USC swimmer Mike Nyeholt, raises money for USC’s physically challenged athletes’ scholarship fund. Information: 213-740-4155; Junior Nationals West, March 24-28, in Dallas; U.S. Olympic team camp, April 9-12, Colorado Springs, Colo.