Karlson Building Up to the Games : Rowing: Crew Classic participant lighter than most of her peers.

It’s a problem many of us would like to face: Try to gain weight and keep it on.

But that’s the dilemma Kris Karlson has faced as she tries to row her way onto the U.S. team for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Karlson, a two-time world champion individual rower, has specialized in the lightweight division. But the Olympics don’t recognize weight classes, so Karlson will use this weekend’s San Diego Crew Classic to test herself in the open weight class against--in her words--”the big girls.”

Karlson, who carried about 130 pounds on her 5-foot-9 frame in her lightweight days, has bulked up into the 140s, still not exactly the Hulk Hogan of her division. “I’m still at a disadvantage,” she said before a recent practice.

“I’m not ever going to be a big person. I’ll be as fast as I can be at my size and hope that’s good enough but I’m still going up against girls who are 6-2 and weigh 180.”

Karlson is one of the more elite rowers among the 2,400 or so who will take part in more than 80 races Saturday and Sunday in the 19th annual Crew Classic on Mission Bay. Races begin each day at 6:30 a.m. Featured races Saturday are men’s and women’s World Cup semifinals at 6 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s highlights are Whittier Cup and Copley Cup heats at 7 a.m., World Cup finals at 9:10 (women) and 9:45 a.m. (men) and Whittier and Copley Cup finals at 1:40 and 2 p.m.

Along with top collegiate teams competing for the Copley and Whittier cups, many of the world’s best rowers will be tuning up for the Olympics in the World Cup.

Formidable challenges are nothing new to Karlson, 28, an physician who balances a busy workout schedule with a full-time career as a first-year hospital intern in Hartford, Conn.

In March she began a five-month leave in quest of a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, training twice-a-day with teammate Alison Townley, in hopes of qualifying in an Olympic doubles shell. But before March she had been mixing in daily workouts while putting in 80 to 100 hours a week in St. Francis Hospital’s Family Medicine Dept. She was graduated from the University of Connecticut Medical School in 1990.

“I’ve adapted a strategy of making it all work,” she said. “It means being extremely efficient. I feel schizophrenic in a way. There isn’t much crossover. The rowers don’t entirely understand that I have this other full-time job, and the hospital people don’t understand at all--I have to train consistently, absolutely every day. If some people are going out to dinner I just can’t go along.

“On the one hand it’s been hard, because the time constraints at work are huge. On the other hand they complement each other--if I have a bad day at work and I go and get in a good workout I feel better.”

“Rowing is the kind of sport you either love it and you’re addicted, or you dabble and move on. I never stopped. It’s such a demanding sport that if you don’t love it you’re gonna be unhappy. I’m happy.”

What her co-workers and fellow rowers see is someone who gets her work done and gets out, with little time for socializing or hanging out, especially at the hospital. “When I’m at work, I’m at work,” she said. “You can’t be half there and half a rower. Working with patients you can’t have half your brain on the water.”

Given her dual calling, Karlson seems suited to individual rowing, though she feels her best chance for an Olympic medal is in doubles. She began her crew career while attending Williams College a decade ago.

“There’s something about being in a boat by yourself that’s fun and satisfying,” she said. “You know exactly how you compare to everybody else. It’s an all-of-the-pressure, all-of-the-glory event. Although the pressure’s really a lot. The last two years I’ve rowed doubles because I knew I was not gonna be competitive enough in a single to win a (Olympic) medal. But I still love singles. It’s really fun. For me this weekend is more of a chance to see where I stand with singles: How fast am I, how good has my winter training been, what do I need to work on?”

Rowers are among the last of the true amateur athletes: Karlson gets some training and traveling funds from the U.S. Olympic Committee, but basically supports herself and organizes her own training. In San Diego she and other rowers are staying with volunteer families.

“It’s always fun to come out for the first real race of the season, to remember what it’s like to race, see old friends and old competitors,” she said. “This particular regatta is unbelievable the way (locals) have extended themselves. It’s great the way people help us out.

“We’re an obscure sport, not an everyman sport. We’re not televisable, and everyone knows TV’s the game these days. But it doesn’t have to be an elitist sport. Anyone can join a club. We’re trying (to build interest), but it’s an uphill battle.”

Karlson said there has been talk recently of the Olympics adding weight classes, but she’s not sure she’ll continue competing long enough for it to help her. The only sure thing now is this is her year to go for the Olympics, weight notwithstanding, starting Saturday.

And there’s one advantage to rowing in an open-weight division: “I don’t have to think so much about what I eat as I did as a lightweight.”

The series of recent storms raised bacterial contamination in Mission Bay to levels that threatened the regatta, but race organizers were able to lay in the course this week and say the regatta is on.

As of Thursday morning, the north ends of Sail and Fiesta bays were contaminated, but Thursday night the course was approved.

However, winning teams might suspend their tradition of throwing the coxswain into the bay.

CREW CLASSIC AT A GLANCE

When--Saturday, April 4, 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 5, 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured races are cup semifinals, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and finals 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

What--Open, amateur, collegiate and international crew races starting every 10 to 15 minutes, with 2,400 rowers representing more than 80 clubs and universities.

Where--Crown Point Shores, Mission Bay

Course--2,000-meter Olympic distance (1 1/4 miles), start at Sea World, finish at Crown Point Shores in Pacific Beach. Buoys mark the lanes.

Whom to watch--Featured races are the World Cup, with many top international teams, the Copley Cup for men’s collegiate teams and Whittier Cup in women’s collegiate field. Harvard is defending men’s champ, recording 5:54.38 last year. Boston U. (6:41.43) is defending women’s champ. The World Cup, in its third year, will feature many European Olympians tuning up for Barcelona.

Where to watch--The finish line along Crown Point Shores offers most dramatic viewing, as well as spectator tents provided by schools and alumni organizations. Organizers expect 30,000 viewers over the two days.

Incidental--Eight-oared shells are average 62-feet long and use coxswains who direct stroke rhythm and steering. There is one rower per oar. Many men’s shells have women coxswains for less extra weight. There are also single and double shells.