Krayzelburg’s Double Victory Speaks for Itself

Lenny Krayzelburg has learned a lot in the pool.

When Krayzelburg emigrated from Odessa in the former Soviet Union to Los Angeles in 1989, he didn’t know English. But he quickly picked it up while competing for a club team in Santa Monica.

“I didn’t have much choice,” said Krayzelburg, of Studio City. “If I wanted to communicate, I had to learn.”

Krayzelburg has improved in areas other than linguistics. Since graduating from Fairfax High in 1994, he has spent summers training with the Trojan Swim Club alongside Brad Bridgewater, the USC standout who won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke last month at the Olympics.

Krayzelburg is earning several honors of his own. He was a finalist in the U.S. Olympic Trials and the NCAA Championships this year after enrolling at USC last winter.

Krayzelburg also defeated Bridgewater in several pre-Olympic events this summer, including the Santa Clara International Invitational in June.

Last week, Krayzelburg, 20, made significant progress, winning the 100 and 200 backstroke events in the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships in Ft. Lauderdale in his second appearance at the national finals.

“This was what I was shooting for,” Krayzelburg said. “I had the flu at the NCAAs. If I hadn’t done well at nationals, it would have been a wasted year.”

His times in both events have improved dramatically. He has chopped more than three seconds off his time in the 200 backstroke and almost 1 1/2 seconds in the 100 backstroke in the past year.

“Brad and Lenny help each other out a lot just by practicing together,” said USC Assistant Coach Larry Leibowitz. Lenny has made a ton of progress in the last few months. This is the level he should be at.”

After setting a junior college national record in the 200-yard backstroke (1:47.91) in 1994 while competing for Santa Monica College, Krayzelburg sat out the 1995 season as a redshirt to gain three years of eligibility at USC.

Although Bridgewater has used all his college eligibility, Krayzelburg is ready to make another step forward.

“I’m still pretty young,” he said. “I’ve got three to four years of improving left to do before the next Olympics.”

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Krayzelburg wasn’t the only athlete from the region to enjoy success in national competition last week.

Jennifer Parmenter of Granada Hills, who won a pair of titles during the 1995 Spring Nationals, added three championships at Ft. Lauderdale--winning the 200 and 400 individual medleys and the 400 freestyle.

Parmenter, who will be a sophomore at L.A. Baptist, added a fourth-place finish in the 200 backstroke was the high individual women’s point scorer of the meet, which featured most of the best swimmers in the nation who did not participate in the Olympics.

Parmenter, who competes for Rose Bowl Aquatics, barely missed a spot on the Olympic team last March with a third-place finish in the 400 individual medley at the Trials. The top two finishers in each event advanced.

Ryan Duncan of Buenaventura and Simi Valley finished fifth in the 400 individual medley.

Nicole Beck of Buenaventura and Buena High placed eighth in the 100 backstroke.

At the U.S. diving championships in Moultrie, Ga., Troy Dumais, 16, of Ventura swept the one- and three-meter springboard events. It is believed Dumais is the youngest male national champion in U.S. diving history.

Jennifer Chandler, a future Olympic champion, won the women’s national title in 1974 at the age of 14. Greg Louganis didn’t win his first title until he was 18.

Dumais finished third in the platform diving event.

Dumais, who will be a junior at Buena High, was one spot away from making the Olympic team in the springboard at the U.S. Trials in June.

Dumais’ brother, Justin, placed 10th in the three-meter springboard and 11th in the platform.

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The National championships marked the end of summer competition for most area swimmers, which means a rare week off from training.

For most, that means a chance to relax and catch up on sleep before resuming training in the fall.

Stephanie Shapiro wasn’t so lucky.

The junior from Granada Hills High spent her week off following the Western Regional Junior Nationals in Santa Clara in traffic school after receiving a speeding ticket.

“It was the only time I could go, five straight days for three hours each day.” Shapiro said. “Everyone else gets to rest and I have to go traffic school. I didn’t get a break at all.”