The Right COMBINATION

Jeff Sneed figures it’s time to get serious.

After years of flirting with the idea of becoming a triathlete competitor, Sneed is poised to dive headfirst into an event that will be added to the Olympic menu for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

“That would be the ultimate,” he said of a trip down under.

Sneed, 22, has reason to be encouraged after his performances in several triathlons this summer. With a strong running background but minimal training in swimming and cycling, he placed 19th overall and won his age division in a triathlon at Ventura State Beach on Aug. 10.

Through that performance, Sneed qualified for the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, a grueling event in which competitors swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and run a marathon (26 miles 385 yards)--if they’re still standing.

In order to train full time for the Ironman, held on Oct. 18, Sneed has decided to give up his spot on the UCLA cross-country team.

“I always started out well [in cross-country] but had discouraging results at the end of the season,” he said. “Instead of being disappointed again, I figure I’ll try the Ironman and see what happens.”

Sneed, who ran cross-country and track at La Canada High, has harbored Olympic aspirations for some time. His problem was finding the right sport.

Although he has competed for UCLA in cross-country and track for the past three years, Sneed admittedly doesn’t measure up with world-class distance runners. He knows the only way he’ll ever get to the Olympics--without having to buy a ticket--is through a combination event that incorporates running.

That certainly was the thinking one night last year when Sneed and his father came up with what they thought was a feasible Olympic event.

“We picked the modern pentathlon,” Sneed said.

This, of course, was akin to investing in the stock market the day before the 1929 crash. The modern pentathlon, a combination of horseback riding, shooting, fencing, swimming and running, was discontinued as an Olympic sport last year after the Atlanta Games.

Fortunately, Sneed didn’t spend much time honing his pentathlon skills. During track season last spring, he heard that the triathlon would replace the modern pentathlon as an Olympic event. The Olympic triathlon will be considerably shorter than standard with a .9-mile swim, a 24.8-mile bike ride and 6.2-mile run.

“I thought this might be a chance to actually go to the Olympic trials,” he said. “That’s why I decided to try a couple of triathlons this summer to see if it was feasible to train for the Olympics.”

The triathlon first caught Sneed’s attention during a family vacation in Hawaii after his eighth-grade year.

“I saw the Ironman on TV and all the people in Hawaii made such a big deal about it,” he said. “That trip I wanted to get a bike and start training.”

Sneed got a 12-speed bike when he was a freshman in high school and soon entered his first triathlon at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale. It’s still a vivid memory, mainly because the swimming leg was held in only a few feet of water.

“The water was so shallow, you could run the whole swimming distance,” he said. “I thought it was funny.”

Sneed wanted to enter more triathlons but was discouraged by his high school coaches, he said.

“My coaches thought the cycling would hurt my running,” he said. “But I’ve been doing a lot of cycling lately and I think it’s actually helped my running.”

Considering he is just starting to train seriously in swimming and cycling, Sneed has done remarkably well in triathlons.

His 19th-place finish in Ventura was the best by a competitor under 25 and his time of 1:16.01 in the 13.1-mile run was second only to overall winner Erik Harr of Fairfax, Calif.

Sneed was 50th in the 1.2-mile ocean swim (33:56) and was 99th in the 56-mile cycling leg (2:30.39), times he feels will improve dramatically with increased training. He was using the bike he got in ninth grade until buying a new one Tuesday.

“I haven’t even touched on the training I’m supposed to be doing,” he said. “On the swim, people are still blowing by me.

“On the bike, I don’t know what kind of mileage to do. I’ve only been doing about 70 miles a week, and that’s like not even training.”

Sneed stepped up his training Sunday, cycling 114 miles on a round trip from Santa Monica to Oxnard, and following it with a 10-mile run. It was the first time he cycled more than 60 miles.

“I survived,” he said. “The bike [ride] wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

In preparation for the Ironman, Sneed said he is training “all day, everyday.” It will all be worth it if it helps prepare him for a spot on the next Olympic team.

“It’s so competitive,” Sneed acknowledged. “But at least I have a shot, hopefully.”