USC Swimmers Test New Olympic Pool

The summer Olympics are still more than two years away, but the United States swim team already is warming to the waters of the Sydney International Aquatic Centre.

American swimmers on their way to Perth and the recent World Swimming Championships were allowed a day of practice at the new Olympic pool.

“When we first started training in Wollongong [a Sydney suburb] I didn’t think about the meet too much,” said Lenny Krayzelburg, a 22-year-old senior at USC. “But once I saw the stadium in Sydney, it finally hit me. I knew that I needed to start working twice as hard to get back here in 2 1/2 years.”

As an Olympian.

Another Trojan who got caught up in the atmosphere is junior Lindsey Benko. Benko and Krayzelburg were inspired to their best performances in international competition at the World Championships.

Already the U.S. record holder in the men’s 200-meter backstroke, Krayzelburg won gold in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events, becoming the first American to win both in the same World Championships. He also swam the lead leg for the second-place 400-meter medley relay team.

“It was a great accomplishment,” Krayzelburg said. “I think it puts more pressure on me and gives me a lot more motivation to do well for years to come. Beating the great swimmers of the world was important for my confidence.”

Benko, young to the international scene, was more in search of experience outside USC.

Already dominant at the collegiate level, she finished in eighth place in the women’s 200-meter freestyle, less than 2 1/2 seconds behind the leader. She later won a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle relay.

“It was a big step,” said Benko, a junior from Elkhart, Ind. “My confidence on the international level was low. I learned a lot about international competition and how much different it is. It’s pretty intense. It’s a different type of swimming.”

Both have set goals to return to Australia in 2000 but for now, Benko and Krayzelburg are Trojans.

Benko’s immediate attention will be on the NCAA meet in March.

The USC women won their first title last season as the fifth-seeded team, upsetting heavily favored Stanford. The road to the title this year will be tougher without the graduated Kristine Quance, the most decorated women’s swimmer at USC and a 1996 gold-medal winner in Atlanta.

“We’re still the underdogs,” Benko said. “Everybody knows we lost Kristine, but we have the talent and depth to repeat. We just have to work a little harder to do it.”

Benko has a chance to win her third consecutive NCAA titles in both the 200-meter backstroke and 500-meter freestyle.

Like the women, the Trojan men are without a graduated Atlanta gold-medal winner, Brad Bridgewater. Bridgewater took a young Krayzelburg under his wing two years ago at USC and helped in his development.

“Brad helped me a lot when I first came here,” Krayzelburg said. “He was swimming on the national level since he was 16 so he had much to offer. He contributed a lot to my success.”

Coach Mark Schubert will look to Krayzelburg to help improve on a sixth-place finish in last season’s NCAA team championships. But Schubert is realistic about Trojan chances.

“We’re going to need a lot of luck to win the men’s championship,” he said. “We’re going to need some improvement from the freshmen, so right now I’m hoping to finish in the top three. But with a little luck, who knows. Behind Lenny’s leadership, anything’s possible.”