He’s Part of Family That Makes Waves

How many Olympic swimmers have a loosely organized fan club at a medium-security prison down the road with a 72-year-old grandfather and convicted financier as its de facto president?

It appeals to the nonconformist in 21-year-old sprinter and aspiring musician Gary Hall Jr., especially since the grandfather in question happens to be his grandfather, Charles H. Keating Jr. And the standing club site, the Federal Corrections Institution in Tucson, is hardly a country club full of criminals working on their forehands.

“I’ve actually corresponded back and forth with them, which is pretty cool, I think,” Hall says. “They’re good guys.”

The guys already have next month’s viewing schedule for the facility’s lone television planned, courtesy of Keating. Gary will be competing at the Olympics in Atlanta in two relays and two individual events--the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle--trying to dethrone defending Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia.

Popov vs. Hall has potential star quality, the kind of duel with an ability to elevate the sport. Of course, Hall’s father and three-time Olympian, Gary Hall Sr., will be on hand, along with all the other kids in the Hall, Gary’s five siblings and small army of cousins.

One other seat is being reserved for the winner of the 1946 NCAA title in the 200-yard breaststroke, against considerably steeper odds.

Gary Jr., who has maintained a belief in his grandfather’s innocence even after state and federal convictions, has not given up his dream of looking up from the pool deck in Atlanta and spotting Keating in the stands.

“He is pushing to be there for the Olympics,” Hall said. “We’re holding a ticket for him. You’ve got to hope for the best. You don’t want to set yourself up for an unrealistic situation, but I don’t look at it that way.”

Maybe the grandson knew something when he spoke earlier this month. At that point, his words sounded more like the innocence of youth. Although Keating’s 1991 state securities fraud conviction was tossed out in April, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals remained silent for almost 18 months until last week, when it ordered, in a unanimous ruling, that a hearing should be held to decide whether possible jury misconduct affected his federal fraud conviction.

The ruling from the three-judge panel greatly encouraged Keating and his defense team, raising their hopes he could be released on appeal if a new trial is ordered. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled, but last week’s decision at least moved Keating a few meters closer to Atlanta.

If he were to come to Atlanta, it would be an unprecedented gathering of three generations of swimming greatness spawned from the same family. Atlanta will be the fourth Olympic Games for the family--Gary Sr. competed in three consecutive Games, starting from 1968 in Mexico City and concluding in Montreal in 1976. And Keating’s son, Charles III--also free on bail pending his appeal on the federal charges for fraud and racketeering--joined Gary Sr. in Montreal and took fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke.

GENERATION I

Charles H. Keating Jr. sounded upbeat on the phone last week from prison in Tucson, if that’s possible when the highlight of the day is slowly walking in circles for 3 1/2 hours.

Within the previous hour, he had learned the appellate court would issue a ruling the next day, and it had reached the point where some news was good news. He was being called to discuss Gary Jr., not his role in the 1989 collapse of Lincoln Savings & Loan in Irvine, the country’s second-costliest thrift failure.

Does his spirited grandson remind him of himself?

“Well, I’m hoping he never goes to prison,” Keating said.

To keep busy, Keating, a recreation supervisor in prison, rotates between five or six nonfiction books at a time, currently reading, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” and “Hitler’s Willing Executioners.” Additionally, he is familiar with the training regimes of Gary Jr. and Popov, predicting a double victory by his grandson.

Keating, whose federal term is set to end in 2001, had some health problems when he was previously held at a state prison in San Luis Obispo, but he had a relatively untroubled existence in Tucson.

“It isn’t like the outside, it can be a difficult bunch,” he said. “But I get along extremely well. I’ve had no incidents. I enjoy the company. You don’t stay out of trouble by ducking it.”

The progress of his first grandchild toward the Olympics has helped “alleviate some of the tensions and concerns,” in prison, Keating said. He grew close with his grandson when Gary Sr. and his family moved in with the Keatings for three years in the early ‘80s. The grandfather often worked out with his grandson in the family pool and they developed a strong bond.

“He wasn’t overeager to work out every day, and the coaches didn’t have much effect,” Keating said. “So I dragged my old bones out there and he enjoyed swimming with me.”

Keating’s own Olympic hopes were erased by World War II, but he shows no remorse over that loss and offered a feisty rejoinder. “You can handle it better than stupid [Jimmy] Carter canceling the Olympics in 1980, and you can quote me on it,” he said. He is equally pointed about his grandson, who he often calls jerk, in a personal term of endearment.

“The only way he’ll help me is if the jerk wins the gold,” he said.

GENERATION II

In May, Gary Hall Sr. sat in a room near the glittering pool at the Phoenix Swim Club, speaking about his unpredictable son and the renaissance of the facility, which was virtually reclaimed from ashes.

It had been one of the many showpieces of the Keating empire, and was seized by the Resolution Trust Corp. after Keating’s high-profile collapse. Gary Sr., a prominent Phoenix eye surgeon, sadly watched the trash pile up on the grounds as it fell into disrepair. The RTC maintained a guard on the property 24 hours a day, kept the lights on but didn’t try to sell it for two years.

“The water was black and they let the water back up,” Gary Sr. said. “And we had to start over.”

Gary Sr. helped put together a group to buy the property and organized a cleanup crew, aided by mops and trash bags. Even Gary Jr.? “Whenever we could catch him,” Gary Sr. said.

Though Gary Jr. had a full-fledged club for training, it was no coincidence he went through a slightly rebellious period after his grandfather was incarcerated. He got into Paintball, blowing up mailboxes, wrecking golf courses and generally creating havoc in the greater Phoenix area.

“A lot of it was trauma over his grandfather,” Gary Sr. said. “It was kind of a vulnerable age. I look back on it and it was an expression of anger and rebellion. He was almost like a son, closer to him than he was to me. It was always right on the edge. Fortunately, nothing bad ever happened.”

Keating caught a hint Gary Jr. might have something special at the last meet he watched him compete--in person--when his grandson was a junior in high school. Hall dropped more than three seconds off his personal best in 100 freestyle.

Gary Sr. and his wife Mary, Keating’s daughter, were stunned.

“Mary and I looked at each other and said, ‘Wait a minute. Where did this kid come from?” Gary Sr. said. “His grandfather said, ‘Hey man, this kid is a sprinter.’ ”

GENERATION X

He has to handle comparisons to Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi and, of course, his father. At the trials, Tom Jager watched Hall win the 50 freestyle in a personal-best 22.27 seconds and predicted he would beat Popov in Atlanta.

But the acclaim has a dissenting chorus of criticism. Hall’s light training methods have come under fire, and he’s often depicted as a Generation X slacker.

“Gary has two speeds, if you all haven’t figured that out yet,” Gary Sr. said. “He’s got fast and slow. That’s just Gary.”

Hall has had three coaches since February, and the third one, Mike Bottom, came aboard last month. “He hadn’t been in the water after trials a whole lot, and there was a lot of concern,” Bottom said. “There was some coaching tension.”

Gary Jr. denied at least part of Bottom’s contention.

“Uh, I showered, I showered every day,” he said, grinning. “So I was in the water off and on.”

His sense of humor arrives almost unexpectedly, splashing up like a small wave and then retreating. It is his way of dealing with criticism, a tool that partly hides his competitiveness and sensitivity. He brings it out again when talking about the meaning of training and swimming. “I do it for the chicks and money,” he said.

In a straight-arrow sport, Gary Jr. stands out like someone wearing leather motorcycle pants and a purple Grateful Dead shirt over his swim suit on the deck--which, in fact, he did at the trials. He also recently made a kidding comment to Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” saying: “Swim like a fish, drink like a fish,” and it caused a minor stir among some swimming parents.

Of course, there was a good chance that little kids--who practice at 5:30 a.m.--are probably not up watching Leno. But Gary Jr. is his own person, a kid, really, who was forced to grow up quickly when he watched his grandfather and closest friend enter prison.

“It’s worse than losing a relative to death because the suffering continues,” Gary Jr. said. “And it’s been a big part of my life. Swimming has been a way for me to maybe relieve some of the frustration and anger I felt.

“I firmly believe in his innocence. You have to fight for what you believe in. And I’ll do what I can to help him.”