SWIMMING : Jorgensen Gets Some Satisfaction

It is not an easy summer for some of the swimmers who did not make the United States Olympic team.

There are constant reminders of what they will miss--particularly for Lars Jorgensen, a 1988 Olympian from Rancho Bernardo whose brother, Dan, is a member of the 1992 team.

Motivation has been difficult for Lars, but after staving off Saddleback Valley’s Chad Carvin and winning the 800-meter freestyle in Thursday’s Olympic sendoff meet, he revived his competitive juices.

In the other event contested on the first of four days of competition at the Mission Viejo International Swimming Complex, April Diez won the women’s 1,500 freestyle.

Jorgensen had something to think about when Carvin pulled alongside his hip with a strong turn at the 700-meter mark.

The two battled stroke for stroke into the final turn. This time, Carvin misjudged the wall, flip-turned too soon and was left behind by Jorgensen, who touched at 8 minutes 17.36 seconds.

“I saw him (Carvin) coming the whole time, and I was hurting a lot,” Jorgensen said. “I was hoping I would have enough left.”

Jorgensen was surprised to have any reserves. His training has not been sharp in the wake of two fifth-place finishes at the Olympic trials last March. Only the top two make the U.S. team.

“You work so hard for that and then you say, ‘What else is there’? “ Jorgensen said. “I have to refocus my goals.”

His plan is to finish his college career. After a disappointing season, Jorgensen left USC in the spring of 1991. He transferred to Tennessee, where he will have one year of eligibility.

Jorgensen wound up defeating former teammate Jeff Ong, a USC junior-to-be who will compete for Malaysia in the upcoming Olympic Games.

Ong posted a 8:17.80 to Carvin’s 8:18.83.

Diez made a strong move at the 200-meter mark to pull away from Sarah L. Anderson of San Ramon Valley.

Decked out in a red, white and blue stars-and-stripes suit, Diez finished in 16:53.41, 21 seconds faster than her goal.

“Once I got out ahead I didn’t want any one near me, because I knew it would hurt at the end,” Diez said.

The 19-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., attributed her improvement to an international distance training camp she recently attended in Hawaii.

“I’ve never trained so hard in my life,” Diez said. “It was such a great experience. It got me so excited to train.”

Still, Diez did not want to swim the 1,500 on Thursday.

“I’ve been complaining all day about it,” she said. “It’s too long.”

Swimming Notes

In 1988 a corporate sponsor made it possible for the parents of Lars and Dan Jorgensen to see their sons swim at the Olympic Games in Seoul. This time, no such funding is available so the Jorgensens will stay home. “It was just too expensive and it is hard to get hotel rooms,” Lars said. “Plus, the swimming is sold out, so we could only get tickets the day Dan swims. We’re just going to watch on NBC. We’ll be getting the triplecast.” . . . German Olympian Nils Rudolph, who is training at a high altitude in Flagstaff, Ariz., was forced to pull out of the meet by one of his coaches. . . . Polish Olympian Artur Wojdat, the favorite in the 800 freestyle, scratched to rest for the upcoming 100, 200 and 400 freestyle events.