Coaches Expect Carvin to Go the Distance : Swimming: Laguna Hills graduate is establishing himself as a man to watch in the pool.

As Chad Carvin accelerates, so do everyone’s expectations.

When Arizona swim Coach Frank Busch recruited the 1992 Laguna Hills High graduate, he saw hints of Olympic swimmer Matt Biondi.

Only more so.

“What I saw was lots of room for improvement,” Busch said. “Matt Biondi was a good water polo player and became a great sprinter. You don’t find many that are able to become great long-distance swimmers.”

Like Biondi, Carvin played water polo and swam in the off-season to keep in shape. But he was lured into the sport full-time as a high school freshman when he discovered it was easier to beat a clock than the politics of water polo.

Four years later, highlighted by two third-place finishes and a fifth at this year’s NCAA championships, Carvin has solidified his position as one of the nation’s top distance racers.

“He and Matt (Hooper) are by far the best up-and-coming distance swimmers in the country,” Laguna Hills Coach Rohan Taylor said.

Carvin and Texas’ Hooper, also a freshman, were on a collision course at the NCAA meet in Indianapolis in late March. In the two events--the 500-yard and 1,650 freestyles--they raced head-to-head, Hooper was one place better. Both finished behind Michigan junior Marcel Wouda. In the standings for the meet’s high-point award, Hooper and Carvin tied for ninth, the highest finish by a freshman.

A week later at the nationals in Tennessee, Carvin won the 800-meter freestyle in 8 minutes 10.70 seconds and was fourth in the 1,500 free.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Busch said. “When you coach someone you think can go faster, and they do, all of a sudden your expectations change.”

Based on his improvements over the last six months, Carvin has altered his goals as well.

From his junior to senior year at Laguna Hills, Carvin dropped only one second from his best 500 free time. Since training under Busch’s watchful eye, he has shaved five seconds off his fastest 500 and 25 seconds off his 1,650.

“I’m guessing he didn’t think he’d go that fast for another year,” Taylor said.

That speed can be traced directly to old-fashioned mileage. When he trained at Saddleback Valley Aquatics, Carvin was putting in almost half the pool time that he does under Busch, who also coaches Carvin’s club team, Hillenbrand Aquatics, in Tucson.

“My old coach took me as far as I could go with the training we were doing,” Carvin said. “In my mind, I thought I could get a lot faster, but I didn’t actually figure out (how fast) until this year.”

Busch said Carvin’s moment of self-realization came after he made his first NCAA cuts.

“He saw himself in a totally different level of swimming,” Busch said.

Starting with the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions, which begins today, this summer will help measure what level Carvin can reach.

“I’m up there in the U.S., but I’m still two or three steps away from the international level,” Carvin said. “This summer is pivotal for me. If I can place in the top two in summer nationals, that will be another step up for me.”

A top-two finish at summer nationals in early August would qualify him for the Pan Pacific Games in Japan later in the month.

Taylor believes Carvin will succeed because of his guts and determination.

“Chad wants to be the best,” he said. “Failure is not in his vocabulary.”

Nor does it seem to be tucked away in his swim bag. Taylor all but guaranteed that Carvin will not only represent the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, he already has reserved a spot in the winner’s circle for the 1992 Times Orange County swimmer of the year.

“I’ve been around that caliber of swimmer,” Taylor said. “I’m 100% sure he’ll go and win a medal. He’s already in the top three in America. That should put it all in focus.”

Busch’s vision of Carvin’s future is optimistic, albeit hazy.

“I do believe he has that kind of talent, but believing it and actually doing it are two different things,” he said. “He’s grooved right now, nothing will derail him. But he’ll have to continue to keep stepping it up.”

Carvin welcomes the hard work that will aid his climb.

Taylor sees Carvin as a throwback to the day when you swam until your skin shriveled up like a raisin.

“He loves those old-fashioned workouts, just cranking it out,” Taylor said.

Said Carvin: “A lot (of swimmers) don’t have the mental capacity to do this kind of work. I get really into it. I’m into hammering people. The philosophy of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s was to put in a lot of work. Later it became, ‘Hey, maybe we don’t have to put in as much work.’ Then we saw we do have to do the work.”

In a quick yardage comparison, the distance specialists churn out 14,000 to 16,000 meters a day compared to the sprinters’ 6,000 to 7,000 meters at Hillenbrand.

All of which Carvin does with a smile.

“Chad’s greatest asset is his work ethic,” Busch said. “Training to him is a lot of fun, and there aren’t a lot of distance swimmers who can say that. His chances increase with that attitude. He has one of the best personalities for the event that I’ve ever seen.”

If Busch had a team of swimmers with Carvin’s desire and disposition, he’d be stealing his paycheck.

“You just point him in the right direction and he goes,” Busch said. “He’s a quick learner. My dog could coach him.”

That’s assuming anyone notices the distance swimmers, which some say is a dangerous presumption.

Outside the swimming community, only a handful qualify as household names. Take away Biondi and Tom Jaeger--both sprinters--and the list of high-profile American male swimmers dries up. Toiling in obscurity are the distance specialists, who are considered the linemen of their sport.

No one anticipates the showdown in the 500 or 1,650 like they do the 50 or the 100. Distance swimmers consider themselves lucky to find a volunteer to flip their lap counters.

“The public wants fast, it wants explosive,” Busch said. “We’re an impatient society. We want it when we want it, and we want it now. “

Initially, Carvin wanted to be a sprinter. In time, the solitude of the distance workouts had him hooked.

“Now I love it,” he said. “I’m not built like a sprinter. I’m 6-2, 165 pounds. God didn’t give me sprint muscles, He gave me distance muscles.”

According to Busch, swimmers are quick to realize what abilities they have and use them. The ones that don’t, “will fight a losing battle . . . If you’re a big guy, but can’t throw the option, you can’t be the quarterback,” he said.

The only battle Carvin engages in is one of mind games. He and his distance teammates call it “putting them in the dirt.”

“You want to leave (the competition) with no self-esteem,” Carvin said. “It magnifies your speed if they start to fall apart.”

But few age-group swimmers ever get to that point. Young athletes don’t want to distance train. Coaches offer more scholarships to sprinters because sprinters can earn a team more points than a distance specialist in a college meet.

“There is that feeling,” Carvin said. “Actually, I’ve benefited from it. There’s less competition. You may see more success because the caliber of sprinters is better. If you’re a decent distance swimmer, you’ll see quicker results.”

The United States has taken its share of criticism for its inability to produce a champion men’s distance swimmer since 1984, when George DiCarlo swam 15:01.51 in the 1,650 to break the American record of 15:02.40 set by Brian Goodell in 1976.

Carvin uses that as a motivational tool.

“It makes me mad a little, but I know what I need to do,” Carvin said. “It won’t be long before I can show (detractors) what I can achieve.”

Like break the 15-minute barrier in the mile.

“No (American’s) done that,” he said. “That would be cool.”