Baxter Pools Resources : With Swimmers From Far and Near, He Makes Buenaventura Nearly Waterproof

From the time Liah Kim began swimming competitively six years ago, she wanted to be a part of the Buenaventura Swim Club.

As Kim, who lived near downtown Los Angeles, drifted from the Glendale YMCA to the San Gabriel Seagulls interspersed by workouts with two Korean club teams, she searched to find a close-to-home club with the competition and camaraderie of Buenaventura.

Finally, 18 months ago, Kim persuaded her parents to make the three-hour round trip for daily practices.

“Most places I found myself swimming by myself because there was no one to practice with,” Kim said. “It got really old. I wanted to be with a group that was competitive but supported each other. We are like a family here.”

Which is what Kim needs. Tired of the interminable drive, Kim, 15, and her younger brother Lanny moved to an apartment in Ventura last August. Without parents.

“It’s been a difficult year,” Kim said. “Learning to cook and take care of my brother has been tough. But I was willing to make the sacrifice.”

On Monday, she’ll get some of the payoff. Kim, along with eight teammates, will compete in the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena. Nine additional Buenaventura swimmers will travel to Tempe, Ariz., the following week for the Junior Nationals.

Buenaventura’s success has been a boon to Coach Steve Baxter. Baxter, who teaches health and physical education at Buena High, is only the second head coach in the 32-year history of the program.

The club enjoyed modest success in the past. The Buena boys’ team won a Southern Section title in 1969, and Kevin Craig swam in the World University Games during a standout career at USC.

But those standards have been eclipsed in recent years.

The Buena girls’ team, drawn primarily from Buenaventura, has won the Southern Section Division I team title three of the last four years.

Rebecca Gilman, 16 and Nicole Beck, 15, competed with the U.S. Junior National team in an international meet in Paris last May, and Gilman, Beck and Erin Schatz have qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials in March.

Most of the 27 senior swimmers going through twice-daily workouts this summer are home grown.

A few like Schatz, whose parents live in Agoura, and Kim sought out the competitive atmosphere after competing with other clubs. Others left for college, but came back to train in the summer.

“There isn’t any one, special reason why we’re excelling now,” Baxter said. “They all have different backgrounds but they all work hard.”

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When Nicole Beck was just a toddler, her mother wanted her to be “pool-safe,” so she enrolled Nicole in a swim program.

While most children screamed when placed in the water, Nicole was upset when she had to get out.

“I’d never seen anything like it,” Judy Beck said. “She showed absolutely no fear. She never wanted to leave.”

When Nicole Beck turned 5, she had exhausted the City of Ventura’s swimming program. A family friend suggested she join the Buenaventura summer session.

She hasn’t stopped since.

“It was a lot of fun from the beginning,” Beck said. “We would have little meets within the club. I enjoyed setting goals for myself through swimming.”

Three years ago, Beck was the youngest swimmer practicing with the senior group, which included four hours of workouts a day during the summer.

Most of the senior group started at age 14. Beck was 12.

“Her family came to me,” Baxter said. “I sat down with her and her parents and laid out the commitment she would have to make and she said she was ready to go.”

Beck completed her freshman year at Buena High by winning two individual events and two relays and was named the outstanding swimmer of the meet at the Division I finals.

At Pasadena, Beck will be competing in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke and the 100 butterfly.

Although two of Beck’s siblings didn’t progress pass the learning stage, her 4-year-old sister may be groomed for the future.

“Nicole has her eye on her already,” Judy Beck said. “She thinks she’s got swimmer’s shoulders.”

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Like Beck, Gilman developed through the Buenaventura program, beginning at age 7 as the only sibling in her family swimming competitively.

Heading into her junior year, she has won four Division I individual titles and was named the California state high school female swimmer of the year in 1995.

But she is just now getting recognized by the international swimming community.

After the Paris competition, Gilman trained for two weeks with the top distance swimmers in the nation in Colorado Springs, Colo. She is ranked 11th in the world in the mile.

“Nicole and Rebecca have come up through the ranks together,” Baxter said. “One of these times one of them will break through and they’ll get noticed the same way those from the big clubs do. They’ll realize those Buenaventura girls aren’t a fluke.”

But Gilman, who has made the finals in previous national championships, isn’t immune to the pressure this week will bring.

In the 800 freestyle, the championship’s opening event, Gilman will be overshadowed by the budding rivalry between former Olympic champion Janet Evans and 14-year-old Brooke Bennett of Plant City, Fla.

Evans has won the 800 in every U.S. championship she’s entered since 1987.

“It’s going to be so tough because the intensity is higher with the Olympics coming up,” Gilman said.

“I’m not setting any goals for myself. I’d rather see if I can surprise myself and not worry about making a certain place. I find I do better that way.”

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While Beck and Gilman have stayed with the club throughout, Mandy Walz found satisfaction in returning.

After a disappointing freshman season at UCLA, the former Buena High standout could have practiced with a college club team but instead returned to Buenaventura, her club for the last decade.

After failing to qualify for the NCAA championships, Walz has regained her form and will compete in the 100 and 200 backstroke. And she serves as a role model to younger swimmers.

“I really missed it. I wanted to come home,” Walz said. “Everything except for the swimming at UCLA was great. It’s fun to be around the high school kids. They have a lot of energy. It helps push me harder.”

Walz is not the only college competitor returning to Buenaventura. Chris Pelent of Southern Illinois is one of three males competing in the championships.

For the male swimmers, receiving notoriety has been difficult, considering most of the top-flight swimmers are female.

Although the Buena boys’ team finished second at the Division I finals, their accomplishments were overshadowed by the girls’ overwhelming victory and the dominant performances of divers Troy and Justin Dumais, who are not affiliated with Buenaventura.

“It can get a little frustrating,” said Matt Carter, who finished fourth in the 500-yard freestyle at the Division I finals. “We do well, but the girls are so good they get all the press along with the divers. It helps push [the males] in our workouts.

“We’ve all got the talent, boys and girls, and we work hard pushing each other and good things are happening.”