USC Program Raises Money, Hope

From tragedy springs inspiration. Consider:

Arthur Hemingway was a freshman fullback on the USC football team in 1978 when he was hit by a driver fleeing police in a stolen car. Hemingway suffered severe head and internal injuries.

David Lupash, once a junior lifeguard, dove into a sandbar in Long Beach at 14 and nearly severed his spine.

Matt Geriak of Yorba Linda dreamed of a skiing career before losing his right leg to cancer.

For these three, injury or illness ended a normal way of life as well as a promising athletic career. But through a unique organization, founded on the hopes of a few and continued by the overwhelming good will of many, they have been given the chance to compete again--in the classroom.

Hemingway, Lupash and Geriak are among this year’s recipients of the 15th annual Swim With Mike fund-raiser, a swim-a-thon that will be held Saturday at USC’s Olympic Swim Stadium. The event is expected to raise more than $200,000 for physically challenged athletes who want to attend USC.

Swim With Mike began in 1981 when friends and teammates of Mike Nyeholt, a three-time all-American swimmer at USC, raised funds to help him recover from a paralyzing motorcycle accident.

Since then, Swim With Mike has raised more than $1 million and has provided 28 scholarships, as well as a great deal of hope.

“A lot of times, when you have these kinds of injuries you just want to mope around in your bedroom for the rest of your life,” said Nyeholt, who walks with the aid of crutches and is a vice president of a local investment firm. “This gives you an incentive to get out there and get on with your life.”

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Many ordinary people share their names with famous--and infamous--celebrities.

Tanya Harding feels sorry for them all.

Harding, a member of the Australian national softball team, arrived in the United States last month to play the remainder of the collegiate season for top-ranked UCLA, 31-2 overall and 14-1 in the Pac-10.

No sooner had she arrived, however, than the media latched onto her name. It’s not exactly the same as that of the ice skater, Tonya Harding, but close enough for reporters who need an angle.

“A lot of (them) try to relate us in some way, and I say I don’t even know the girl,” Tanya Harding said.

One reporter stepped over the line when he asked her if she would ever be involved in something similar to the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

In truth, it’s Harding’s play--not her name--that deserves the spotlight. She is 7-0 with five shutouts, two no-hitters and a perfect game; an 0.58 earned-run average with 58 strikeouts and nine walks in 48 innings, and a .488 batting average.

For Harding, 23, playing at UCLA provides good conditioning for her season with the Australian national team, which runs September through March. The arrangement also works well for the Bruins.

UCLA will play visiting Stanford (10-24, 1-15) Thursday at 1 p.m. before playing host to No. 10 California (30-11, 12-2) Saturday at 1 p.m.

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Balazs Kiss, who broke the NCAA record for the hammer throw at 257 feet 5 inches in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays Saturday, is a 6-foot-2 1/2, 242-pound junior from Veszprem, Hungary.

The throw bettered the old mark, set by Ken Flax of Oregon, by five inches.

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Kareema Marrow, two-time NCAA West Regional all-around champion, will lead UCLA into the NCAA gymnastics championships, which begin Thursday at Athens, Ga.