Fellow Swimmers at Novaquatics Cheer Amanda

While most of America was going breath for breath with Amanda Beard on Tuesday afternoon, 350 swimmers at Irvine High School were mentally matching strokes with the girl phenom as she came within a hand’s length of Olympic gold.

A few hundred feet from the pool at Heritage park where the 14-year-old Amanda trains, the core of faithful had gathered around a big-screen television. They were her teammates from the Irvine Novaquatics, whose coaches broke practice early so kids still dripping water from the pool could watch her compete.

In the last leg of the 200-meter breaststroke, as Amanda steadily gained on the leader, cries of “Go! GO!” became a sustained scream. The crescendo spent itself in an “Ohhhhh” the moment South African Penny Heynes touched the pool side .34 seconds ahead of Amanda.

The disappointment was briefer than Heynes’ winning margin.

“It was cool, she medaled,” said teammate Morgan Hoesterey, 15, of Irvine. “And she is just 14.”

It was an Amanda kind of race, said several, with her trademark turbo-drive at the end. For Amanda it was a personal best in the 200-meter.

“She is so fast it is scary,” added Morgan. “The Olympics are good for her because she hasn’t had much competition lately outside of it. This was a big challenge she was ready to accept.”

That in the end is what the Novaquatics are about. Teaching life’s lessons, rounding out kids, giving them opportunity, keeping them busy and healthy. The club’s 400 swimmers, some as young as age 4, compete in a wide range of age and ability brackets.

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, the gold group among the 9- to 12-year-olds were doing a medley of strokes for coach Brian Pajer, getting ready for this weekend’s Southern California Junior Olympics. This is where Amanda started just three years ago.

The pool deck was littered with swim bags, fins and kick boards, and an occasional parent paced with a cell phone in a holster. Other parents and kids, who awaited their turns in the 16-lane pool, were spotted across the bleachers. Some wore the Team-Amanda shirts complete with image of her teddy bear, which the Novaquatics are selling in a fund-drive to refit the aquatic center.

Pajer, the assistant coach and a breaststroke finalist in the 1992 United States Olympic trials, said Amanda came to him three years ago with “a legal” but ugly breaststroke. She had natural ability, competitive fire and more.

“She has a real talent for the stroke, and great flexibility in her legs,” he said. “Most important, she was very determined to learn the right stroke.”

The whole idea, he said, is to get the maximum potential from of each swimmer. Each presents a challenge through personality, varying ability and even differing buoyancy.

“I think the great thing about swimming is not the result but the process,” he says. “If you learn it at this young age, that is what is important. Give it your absolute best and do it with passion. It will equip them for life. That is what I am striving for.”

Both Pajer and Head Coach Dave Salo, who was in Atlanta with his star pupil, do a lot of goal setting with their young charges.

“When they reach that goal you see a level of confidence, and it is exciting to see that,” Pajer said.

All of this comes at some expense, of course. Families must commit to weekends at meets, and kids are at practice daily. Those older than 13 practice 2 1/2 hours eight times a week. It costs an average $60 per child to be in the club, which employs Salo and Pajer full time. With the cost of swimsuits and travel to meets and meals, the expenses can easily reach $150 to $175 per month per child, said Novaquatics president Kim Hoesterey.

To the parents, it is worth it.

“All kids need physical activity,” said former physical education teacher Peggy Greganos of Huntington beach, who has two children in Novaquatics. “My job is to provide them with opportunity for whatever their talents may be.”

In Beard’s winning the silver medal, Morgan Hoesterey saw success.

“Amanda took second, but it is a win for us,” she said. “This is about learning life’s lessons. You may not be first, but you have succeeded.”