Evans Passes Weissmuller With Victory

Janet Evans won the 800-meter freestyle Wednesday night on the first day of the National Swimming Championships at Federal Way, Wash., giving her 37 national titles, the second most ever.

Only Tracy Caulkins, with 48, has won more. Johnny Weissmuller won 36 during the 1920s.

Evans’ time in the 800 was 8:32.44, six seconds ahead of second-place finisher Alexis Larsen. The meet continues through Sunday.

Hockey

Buffalo Sabre forward Alexander Mogilny testified Wednesday that he feared for his life when a Russian countryman who helped him defect confronted him last week and demanded $150,000. A suburban Buffalo judge ruled there was enough evidence to send an extortion case against Sergey Fomitov to a grand jury.

Mogilny said Fomitov followed him to a restaurant and threatened him after practice Friday, adding that Fomitov demanded money and said he had a gun in his jacket pocket.

Fomitov, 30, did not have any weapons when he was arrested Friday night outside the Sabres’ locker room after a game.

Football

Philadelphia Eagle owner Norman Braman will sell his team to Hollywood producer Jeffrey Lurie, sources said. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a $185-million deal could be completed by the weekend. . . . The Rams matched Washington’s $1.7-million offer for defensive end Tony Woods and said they are trying to persuade offensive tackle Mike Kenn to leave Atlanta. . . . The Cleveland Browns signed Tom Tupa as a backup to quarterback Vinny Testaverde. . . . The Atlanta Falcons said they would not exercise their option to sign veteran quarterback Bobby Hebert for $3.5 million for the 1994 season. . . . The San Diego Chargers signed inside linebacker Dennis Gibson of Detroit as a replacement for Gary Plummer, who signed with San Francisco.

National Football League Properties, whose retail sales of licensed goods made $2.5 billion last season, has been shaken by management turmoil and faces an internal audit of its business practices, the New York Times reported.

Basketball

Houston’s Vernon Maxwell was fined $10,000 for failing to leave the court quickly after being ejected, berating officials and throwing objects, and the Rockets’ Carl Herrera and Sacramento’s Olden Polynice were fined $5,000 and suspended for one game for throwing punches. . . . UCLA guard Cameron Dollar underwent an arthroscopy on his right knee.

Names in the News

Cuban goalkeeper Noel Arguelles, in George Town, Cayman Islands, for a series of matches against a local team, tried to defect but was turned down by the government of the British colony. . . . Stefan Edberg’s coach, Tony Pickard, was fired as Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain three days after his team lost to Portugal. . . . Veteran drivers Stefan Johansson, Tony Bettenhausen and Pancho Carter were among those named to rides for the Indianapolis 500. . . . Gerald O’Dell was introduced as the University of Cincinnati’s athletic director, succeeding Rick Taylor, who left to become athletic director at Northwestern.