SWIMMING : Wagner, 15, Defeats Quance to Win 400 Individual Medley

Three years from now, Allison Wagner might look back on her performance in the Janet Evans Invitational and realize that it was the breakthrough that propelled her to a berth on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.

Wagner, 15, showed promise two years ago when she made her first national time standards. But until she upset national champion Kristine Quance in the 400-meter individual medley at USC on Saturday, she had never defeated a world-class swimmer.

“Her problem has been swimming down to the competition,” said her coach, Kevin Thornton of Florida Aquatics. “This is the first time she swam up to the competition.”

With a mastery of all four strokes, Wagner posted a career best of 4 minutes 49.31 seconds, breaking Olympian Summer Sanders’ 1991 meet record of 4:49.41.

And the split on her weakest stroke, the backstroke, was faster than that of Olympic backstroker Janie Wagstaff, who placed fourth.

“We taped all of my strokes last week and I saw what I was doing wrong,” Wagner said.

Along with an improved technique, Wagner showed a veteran’s ability to race. Sensing that Quance was catching her during the early stages of the freestyle leg, she surged further ahead, ending Quance’s hopes of a comeback with 50 meters left.

Earlier in the meet, Quance, of Northridge, beat Wagner in the 200 breaststroke.

Considering that Wagner has not been able to break 4:50 in the last year and that her meet performances have not matched her impressive training swims, Wagner’s ability to swim a lifetime best without benefit of resting or shaving bodes well for her efforts at the national championships July 26-30 in Austin, Tex.

In the most competitive race on the third day of the four-day meet, Nicole Haislett, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 freestyle, edged Janet Evans to win her specialty by 0.03 seconds.

“She was hunting me down,” said Haislett, of Florida Aquatics. “I just kicked my legs as hard as I could and held on.”

Said Evans: “I was just spinning my arms, sprinting as fast as could.”

Haislett also won the 50 freestyle in 26.48.