Hall Is at Home, Feeling That Way Before Meet

Gary Hall Jr. can’t remember if he has 30 or 31 first cousins living around here.

“Lots of blond-haired, blue-eyed kids, lots of characters,” he said Thursday morning. “Even though 31 is a big group to generalize.”

So, are there 30 or 31?

“I lost track after 25,” he said, shrugging.

How ever many there are, lots of them will be on hand this weekend at Hall’s home pool, the Phoenix Swim Club, for the Speedo Invitational, the last meet featuring all of the U.S. Olympians together before the Games in Atlanta.

The meet, running today through Sunday, is one of several prominent competitions on a hectic pre-Olympic calendar the next few days. Today and Saturday, most of the women candidates for the U.S. gymnastics team will compete in the U.S. Classic meet at Colorado Springs. In track, there are the Santa Monica Distance Carnival today at Santa Monica College and an IAAF Grand Prix meet at Atlanta’s new Olympic Stadium on Saturday, as well as the Cal State Los Angeles Open at Cal State L.A.

Perhaps this pre-Olympic swimming gathering should be renamed the Hall Invitational. The 21-year-old entertained reporters, speaking about many topics--boxing, family, music, and, oh yes, swimming--before being summoned for lunch.

Hall, swimming in three events in Atlanta, is an emerging star with an offbeat flair. After the U.S. trials, a beaten Tom Jager declared Hall the “stud” of U.S. swimming and told him he could beat Alexander Popov of Russia, the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle. They will also compete in the 50 freestyle.

These days, Hall sees Jager’s words coming true, thinking about Popov when he is in the water.

“He’s just the man to beat,” Hall said. “You don’t want to visualize yourself coming in dead last.”

Were it not for a 1992 reclamation effort by Hall’s father--Gary Sr., an eye surgeon and three-time U.S. Olympic swimmer--no one would be swimming at the Phoenix Swim Club, much less Gary Jr. Gary Jr.’s grandfather is the imprisoned Charles Keating, whose Lincoln Savings and Loan Assn. once financed the swim club.

When Lincoln’s assets were liquidated, the Resolution Trust Corp. took over the club but the property fell into disrepair. Gary Sr. facilitated a purchase from the RTC and helped clean it up.

Keating, who won an NCAA swimming title in the 200 butterfly, remains in prison, serving a long federal sentence, and won’t be in Atlanta, even though his state court conviction was recently thrown out.

“Swimming has enabled me to give him some joy,” Gary Jr. said. “It’s a small thing I can do to help him out.”