Dasse Won’t Be All Shotput, No Play : Track and field: Costa Mesa graduate is planning to have fun when she’s not competing in her second Olympic Games.

Bonnie Dasse plans to bring back some interesting trinkets from her trip to the Barcelona Olympics.

A couple of soda pop bottles to add to her collection. A poker chip from Monte Carlo, for her dad. And some sand from the beach at St. Tropez, where those great tans come from.

Just a few things to remember Europe by.

“If I can get a picture of the Eiffel Tower, that would be great,” she said.

Oh, yeah, she plans to compete in the shotput, too.

This is the second Olympics for Dasse, who was in Seoul in 1988. But this time around, things are going to be different.

There will be be none of that gut-wrenching, excuse-me-while-I-tie-myself-in-knots stress she has experienced in the past. Nope, this time it’s going to be fun, fun, fun. At least when she’s not competing.

“I’ve always locked myself in the hotel room for 24 hours because that’s what people said you should do,” said Dasse, a graduate of Costa Mesa High School. “That doesn’t always help you mentally.”

Dasse, 32, knows that well.

She has been one of the top shotputters in the United States for nearly a decade. She won the event at the Olympic Festival in 1986 and ’87 and was the runner-up in 1983 and 1989.

Four years ago in Seoul, she was the only American to reach the final. There, nervousness took over.

“I started thinking too much,” Dasse said.

She finished last among the 12 finalists with a throw of 57 feet 9 inches. She had qualified for the final with a throw of 63-9 3/4 the previous day.

“I’ve learned you have to focus on the competition, but it’s just like being at home,” Dasse said. “When you have a free day, go do something instead of sitting around.”

Dasse, a graduate of San Diego State, put that theory into practice during the Olympic trials.

First, she didn’t allow herself to think about the Olympics. She wouldn’t even read newspaper stories about Barcelona, whether they were about the Games or not.

“I thought it might put too much pressure on me, so I didn’t even look at the travel section,” she said.

The day before the final competition, she took a little walk--through New Orleans. She was gone for hours, tromping around in very muggy weather.

The next day, she had a throw of 58-5 1/2, which moved her from fourth place to second. She ended up in third, which qualified her for the Olympic team.

“The walk stimulated me,” Dasse said. “It relaxed my nervous system. I even had a better throw left in me.”

Dasse will repeat her more laid-back preparation before the Olympics. Her training will be rigorous, but she’s not going to live the Olympics around the clock.

On those training-free days, she intends to see the sights:

--St. Tropez. Dasse wants to fill a small jar with sand from the beach in the south of France.

“They advertise that beach as where you go to get the best tans. I have to get some sand,” she said.

--Monte Carlo. Dasse also has to have a poker chip to give to her father. Of course, while she’s there she might place a bet or two.

“Hopefully, I’ll make a profit,” she said.

Besides the poker chip and sand, Dasse will bring home two Coke bottles--one from France and one from Spain. She already has bottles from six other countries.

All of which ought to make customs fun when she returns.

Anything to declare, ma’am?

Two Coke bottles, a poker chip and a jar of sand.

“I’ve regretted not going out and seeing countries when I was at meets in the past,” Dasse said. “These are places I’ve never been to and may never get to again. Some, like Russia, are going to change.

“I’ll be in Europe for four weeks, so I’ll have some time. I think it will even help me, as long as you don’t overdo it.”

The benefits probably won’t help enough, though. Dasse said the one souvenir she won’t be bringing back is a medal.

Although she was a finalist in 1988, she isn’t at her peak right now. A slight muscle strain in her back has put her behind in training.

There was also her job as an accountant for a development company, which cut down her training.

“I had to get out and use my degree to make a living,” she said. “The company has been real flexible, but I just haven’t been training full time. It will be very hard to match what I did in 1988.”

Nevertheless, Dasse will have plenty of memories of the Olympics, maybe even a photo of the Eiffel Tower.

“Maybe I could take the train to Paris one day, take the picture and go back,” Dasse said. “If I could do that, then I got away with murder.”