Golden Memories and Dreams

It was well before dawn that Sunday last month when the Olympic torch made its way to Huntington Beach and was passed to Cathy Ferguson. When she heard the cheers, she recalls now, “It was like being at the Olympic Games one more time.”

Ferguson, who won two swimming gold medals in 1964, points out that there are no former Olympians. Once you’ve been there, you get the title for life.

Two dozen Olympic competitors, dating back to 1948, were on hand at a dinner at Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana this week, a fund-raiser for both Children’s Hospital of Orange County and a foundation to support future Olympians. The oldest was Egil Solsvik, 80, a 1948 wrestling competitor from Long Beach. The youngest was Amanda Beard of Irvine, 14, who’s expected to wow the swimming world in Atlanta in July.

I was interested in learning how the Olympic experience had affected their lives, and whether the Olympic Games still carry the same meaning for them today. I didn’t find any with waning enthusiasm.

“Success is contagious,” says Ulis Williams of Santa Monica, who won the gold running track in 1964. “You get in the habit of doing everything at your very best.”

Williams is now interim president at Compton College. The work ethic he developed for the Olympics, he says, propelled him to return to complete his education and dedicate himself to teaching.

Ferguson, who is now president of the Southern California Olympians, echoes what many of them told me: “It isn’t the winning that matters, it’s the process. And that process goes on with you the rest of your life.”

As she goes through her daily routine, says Ferguson, who now coaches swimming, it’s not important whether others know she’s an Olympic champion: “It’s a comfort zone in the back of your mind. It gives you the confidence to push ahead.”

The Olympics are a shared memory for Julie and Bill Leach of Irvine. Married in 1975, they were both on the 1976 U.S. kayaking team. Julie Leach was the only American to reach the finals.

“You know how some people tell old war stories? That’s the way we are with the Olympics,” Bill Leach says with a laugh. “I think every little kid has a dream about the Olympics. We were lucky enough to be there. No words can describe what it meant to us.”

The couple say it’s always a joy to share an evening with other Olympians. “We have that common experience,” Bill Leach says. “We all know the sacrifices that it took to get there.”

I was moved by many of the Olympians’ stories. It was particularly touching when, during the introductions, Solsvik almost ran across the room to give a high five to Dr. Sammy Lee. Lee was a 1948 and 1952 gold-medal diver and is one of Orange County’s most respected champions. They hadn’t seen each other in 48 years.

“I always admired him so much,” Solsvik told me in his heavy Norwegian accent. “What a delight to see him again.”

Many of these men and women gave assurances they’d be devoted Olympic watchers by TV (opening ceremonies are July 19). But Lee will be there. He’s an invited guest as one of the 100 greatest Olympic athletes. Lee has only missed being at the Olympics two times since 1948, and one of those was the 1980 games in Moscow, which the U.S. boycotted.

“Today’s athletes are so much better than we were,” Lee says.

I’m sure that’s true. But then, they ought to be. They’ve got the Lees and the Fergusons as part of their history.

This Bud’s for You: Special guest at this event was Bud Greenspan, the official Olympic filmmaker. Greenspan says his work was first inspired by Jesse Owens, the famous track star Adolph Hitler refused to shake hands with at the 1936 Games in Berlin. Owens described his Olympic experience as “a lifetime of training for just 10 seconds.”

Craig’s Story: If you lived in Orange County in 1984, maybe you remember the cheers for 19-year-old Craig Hawley as he carried the Olympic torch through Fullerton preceding the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Hawley is autistic and suffers other physical and mental disabilities. At the time, he couldn’t even talk. Through diligent effort and with help from Olympians Fred Dixon and Doug Nordquist, Hawley trained for months for the relay.

And how is Hawley doing 12 years later?

“Craig had his 15 minutes of fame,” says his mother, Gloria Hawley of Yorba Linda. “And he went on to continue running. His very first sentence came a month later. He said ‘I 10-K man.’ ”

But rough times followed. Craig Hawley suffered major neurological crises, and had to be put in residential care. But Gloria Hawley says her son has made amazing progress since then: “The people at Peppermint Ridge [in Corona] have found a way to channel his energies into his running. He’s doing great.”

Wrap-Up: Greenspan’s coffee table book, “100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History,” was given out to all the guests at the fund-raiser. Two of its 100 stories are about Orange County Olympians, Sammy Lee and Patty McCormick, who won four diving gold medals in 1952 and 1956. McCormick made the list because she won in 1956, just months after giving birth to a son, and because she was the first diver to complete the “double-double.”

Lee, a Korean American, was training during the war, when many Americans were suspicious of all Asians. He had to overcome many prejudices just to practice. After the war, Lee says he felt he had a message to send: “I wanted to show the world what a Korean could do if he had the opportunity.” He adds in the book another reason why he’s proud of his medals: “Pretty good for a guy who never learned how to swim.”

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or sending a fax to (714) 966-7711.