Atlanta 1996 / Orange County’s Connections to the Summer Games : A Golden County? : Foreign Swimmers Drawn Here to Train for Olympics

They leave their friends, their parents and their homes--everything familiar.

They find the money they need, but it’s often a struggle. They give up their comfort and security, during their most vulnerable moment, without any guarantees.

They descend on Orange County from around the world. Their stories aren’t exactly the same, but they do share a common dream: Olympic glory.

The tradition continues this summer, when many U.S.-trained foreign athletes will represent their countries in every facet of competition. From basketball to track and field, foreign athletes toil in this country, especially throughout the Southland, hopefully to benefit their homelands and themselves.

Orange County plays a special part in the relationship, being a key region for training world-class swimmers and divers. This year is no different, as members of swim clubs in Huntington Beach, Irvine and Mission Viejo prepare to represent Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and Turkey in the pool in Atlanta.

Foreign swimmers have many barriers to overcome here, but the training opportunities available outweigh the negatives, they believe. And despite those skeptical about the relationship on several fronts, the process endures successfully.

“This is nothing new,” said Bill Rose, coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. “For the last 10 or 20 years, there have always been some foreign swimmers training [in Orange County] for the Olympics. Foreign countries look to send their swimmers here because of the reputation.”

The Nadadores deserve much--if not all--of the credit for that.

“Back in the ‘70s, Mission Viejo was considered the premier program in the United States,” said Dave Salo, coach of the Irvine-based Novaquatics swim club. “That attracts people.”

Since 1980, the Nadadores have trained 11 foreign swimmers who have competed in 14 Olympic Games. Two won medals--a silver and a bronze.

The reasons they come are the same, coaches and players said. The training they receive in Orange County is second to none.

“Our competition level is so high here,” said Bud McAllister, coach of the Golden West swim club in Huntington Beach. “The training level is higher and the facilities are better than what they have in their own countries.”

Which makes coming to America so important.

“This is the best place for me,” said Bart Kizierowski, a member of the Polish Olympic swim team who has trained with the Nadadores for three years.

“We have great facilities here and a great coaching staff. That’s the biggest advantage.”

Foreign swimmers typically leave to train abroad early in their teenage years. They are sponsored by their national swimming federations, private individuals and, sometimes, their parents.

“The swim federations identify the best [swimmers] at a young age, and those are the ones they sponsor,” Rose said. “They usually have to sponsor them because, in most cases, these kids aren’t coming from great money backgrounds. They need the help to get over here, and that’s what the federations are for.”

The Nadadores accept a maximum of three foreign swimmers per nation into their program each year, and 12 overall. Rose estimates it costs between $8,000 to $10,000 for them to train with his club. Those figures include room and board, and all traveling and training expenses incurred yearly.

Being dropped into new surroundings can be difficult on anyone, and the situation presents special problems for adolescents still discovering themselves. Factor in inevitable language and cultural differences, and that’s a sound formula for disaster.

Derya Buyukuncu, a swimmer on the Turkish Olympic team, attended Woodbridge High while training with the Novaquatics. He said life away from home, understandably, is hard on young foreign swimmers.

“It was very hard in the first year,” said Buyukuncu, a sophomore at Michigan. “I came here to improve and to learn, but I was only 15 at the time. I was trying to adjust to leaving my family, but it wasn’t easy.”

Swimmers are placed with families in the area, and attend local high schools. The support of the host families helps immeasurably during the rough transition period.

“The beginning was kind of hard because you don’t know anybody,” said Peter Florczyk, a member of the Nadadores who hopes to qualify for Poland’s Olympic team. “But I have friends now, and my host family has helped a lot. They are real encouraging.”

Florczyk lives with the Dilitkanich family in Mission Viejo and attends Mission Viejo High. Florczyk is truly a member of his family, Ken Dilitkanich said.

“We treat him the same way we treat our two kids, meaning we’re there to support him,” Ken said. “Our role is to provide the same things for him that we provide for our kids in order to help him, and we feel like we’ve had a part in helping him.”

The adjustment process also occurs in the pool. In many cases, foreign swimmers must relearn how to train using unfamiliar methods. Swimmers and coaches speaking different languages doesn’t help either.

“Trying to communicate with the athletes takes time,” Salo said. “They’re trying to learn your system and they sometimes misinterpret what you’re trying to teach.”

But the language problem doesn’t prohibit learning.

“Many of them can’t speak English when they come,” Rose said. “But in my experience, 80 to 90% of them pick it up fast enough in the first two or three months to get along well. It’s really amazing what these kids can do because they set their minds to it.”

A bigger problem arises when swimmers return home during the summers to compete in meets important to their national federations. You’d be surprised how quickly habits can be reacquired.

“A long stay can be a problem,” Salo said. “Any interruption in their long-term training requires more work when they return.”

Although many foreign federations seek to place their top swimmers in U.S. programs, some foreigners don’t appreciate the practice. An undercurrent of resentment occasionally exists.

“It happens, but not often,” Rose said. “If the federations are the ones doing the sponsoring, then most people in those countries support the decision. It’s looked down on if someone other than the federation is sponsoring the swimmer.”

Florczyk is being sponsored by the Polish swimming federation. However, he said not everyone was happy to see him take off.

“My old coach didn’t like it because he was losing one of his swimmers,” Florczyk said. “But the Polish federation wants the best results. That was the point of sending me here.”

Foreign swimmers face negative scrutiny here too. Some people aren’t pleased that coaches are training foreigners to possibly outshine U.S. swimmers.

“A girl once said to me, ‘You’re using American coaches and philosophies to swim against us,’ ” Florczyk said. “I mean, what do you say to that? I’m just working for a goal.”

Coaches don’t view their assistance as being anti-American. Moreover, they argue it would be wrong to deny deserving swimmers opportunities to work to become the best they can be. So they don’t.

“People don’t like it because we’re helping someone from another country beat our swimmers, but I don’t see it as a problem,” McAllister said. “The best individual swimmer is going to win. Besides, isn’t America about giving people opportunities?”