Dolan Takes 400 at U.S. Nationals

Tom Dolan, healthy for the first time since 1994, won the 400-meter individual medley Sunday at the U.S. Swimming National Championships at Nashville, Tenn.

Amanda Beard, 15, the American record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke, failed to reach the final in the event. Beard, of Irvine, was ninth, missing the eight-swimmer final by .01 of a second. At the 1996 Olympics Beard earned silver medals in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and was a member of the 400-meter medley relay.

Dolan, 21, the Olympic gold medalist, world record-holder and world champion in the 400 individual medley, was on world-record pace for the first 350 meters. He won in 4:17.13, the fastest time this year.

Dolan, an asthmatic, holds the world record of 4:12.30. It was only his third meet since the Olympics and first one he rested and shaved for.

“I’m coming off a great summer of training,” Dolan said. “It’s been an interesting year since the Olympics. It felt good to get in there and race again.”

Dolan qualified for the Jan. 8-18 world championships in Perth, Australia. The top two finishers in each event qualify for the worlds.

In the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, Kristy Kowal won in a meet-record time of 1:08.80.

College Basketball

George Raveling, the former USC and Iowa men’s basketball coach, said when he was Hawkeye coach he never left complimentary tickets nor made contact with an athletic booster who is at the center of the investigation into alleged NCAA violations at Michigan.

According to an Associated Press story, the Ann Arbor News reported Saturday that Michigan booster Ed Martin was described by Raveling as someone he “tried to keep his distance with” but who had influence in Detroit recruiting.

Raveling confirmed in a telephone conversation he knew Martin, but said he did not have any involvement with the athletic booster regarding recruiting or allocating complimentary tickets.

“First of all, I know who he is,” Raveling said. “The guy hangs around the basketball scene in Detroit. I knew who he was. But the fact that he had some sort of involvement with me [at Iowa] is ludicrous. He was never involved in any way, shape or form with my program at Iowa. I would be willing to take a lie detector test on any allegations made in the story.”

The Ann Arbor News said documents it obtained show Martin asked for and received complimentary tickets to several games at Iowa when Raveling was coach during the 1980s.

Raveling responded: “You can check any ticket list. I have never left tickets for Ed Martin for any games.”

Beach Volleyball

Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar defeated Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak, 25-23, 21-15, in the championship match of a FIVB women’s tour event in Marseille, France. Bede and Behar won $25,000. In the men’s final at France, third-seeded Para Ferreira and Guilhemme Marques upset top-seeded ZeMarco Nobrega and Emanuel Rego, 22-24, 21-18, and 21-15.

Team Paul Mitchell, sparked by the addition of former NCAA All-American Kelly Spink, defeated Team Discus Athletic, 15-9, in the final of the Bud Light Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball League event at St. Louis. Spink had 12 digs and Annett Davis had 12 kills.

Soccer

Despite intervention efforts by Diego Maradona and President Carlos Menem, there was no professional soccer in Argentina on Sunday as players observed a strike called over a contract dispute between a first division club and six players.

The Argentine Footballers Union called the strike Tuesday and say they will continue until the dispute is resolved in the players’ favor. The stoppage affects the national league, but not international matches.

Six players from first division Deportivo Espanol claim their contracts have expired and are demanding a move. But the club claims the contracts have not expired.

England captain Alan Shearer will be sidelined for several months and will miss important World Cup matches after tearing ankle ligaments during an exhibition at Newcastle, England.

Boxing

Antwun Echols won the vacant U.S. Boxing Assn. middleweight title by stopping Earl Monroe in the third round at Baton Rouge, La.

Monroe, from Demopolis, Ala., drove Echols, from Davenport, Iowa, into the ropes in the first round and caused a cut in the corner of his left eye that Echols said was the result of a head butt. But Echols began asserting himself in the second round and connected with a series of punches to the jaw in the third.

Echols improved to 17-2-1 with his 17th knockout. Monroe is 10-2-2.

Quarter Horse Racing

Cautious Memories, a 19-to-1 longshot, won the $612,300 Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, beating Crash Thru Traffic by a half-length. The 400-yard futurity is the second leg of quarter horse racing’s triple crown.

Cautious Memories paid $40.40 to win.