Muhammad Has Second Chance

Sabir Muhammad can’t pinpoint where he went wrong, but he knows exactly what kept him from setting the U.S. record in the 100-yard butterfly at last March’s NCAA Division I Championships at Auburn.

Maybe he took one extra dolphin kick, or perhaps he exploded too far off the blocks. In any event, the 6-foot-7 Stanford senior traveled too far underwater.

“There was a 15-meter rule at the event,” Muhammad said by phone. “And because I went past that mark [underwater] on my start, my time was not good for the record.”

Muhammad’s time of 46.18 seconds was 8 tenths faster than Pablo Morales’ 1986 U.S. record.

“I was a little disappointed but that was the rule, and I understand why the judges made their decision,” said Muhammad, who will go after the record again this weekend in the Speedo Grand Challenge at Heritage Park Aquatic Complex in Irvine, beginning today.

Southern Methodist’s Lars Frolander, from Sweden, actually won the 100 butterfly at the NCAA finals in 45.59, breaking the U.S. Open and NCAA record.

Muhammad, who also took third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 backstroke, was a member of four winning relay teams. Stanford defeated defending champion Auburn, 599-204.5, for the national title.

Muhammad, 23, will graduate next month with a degree in international relations. He’s hoping to face international competition in Australia in the 2000 Olympics.

He began swimming at 7 with a club in Atlanta.

“It was an intercity program,” Muhammad said. “My mom used to work at the pool, and I always would hang out there. . . . I gradually got better and then I took off.”

Muhammad attended a private high school in Atlanta, where he played basketball. During his junior year, he met Morales, who was on a lecture tour of schools, talking about his life and experiences during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“That’s actually a pretty funny story when I met Pablo,” Muhammad said. “I went up to him after his lecture and told him that I was going to break his butterfly record. He smiled and said, ‘That’s great.’ ”

Little did Muhammad know that Morales would later tell Stanford Coach Skip Kenney about the young butterfly sensation he had met.

“I started to get letters and later calls from Kenney, telling me that he thought Stanford would be the right school for me,” Muhammad said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, Stanford is interested in me.’ I know if it wasn’t for Pablo, I probably wouldn’t have gone to Stanford. It was really nice to have him in my corner.”

Muhammad said that after this weekend’s Grand Challenge meet in Irvine, and another Grand Challenge meet in Phoenix, he’ll return to Stanford to get ready for graduation. Then he’ll be off to the Janet Evans Invitational at USC on July 23-26, followed by a made-for-TV sprints meet in Paris.

Perhaps there he will have a chance to put his newly earned degree to use.

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Swim Meet

* What: Speedo Grand Challenge

* When: Friday through Sunday. Preliminaries start at 9 a.m., with finals scheduled for 5 p.m. daily.

* Where: Heritage Park Aquatic Complex, 4601 Walnut Ave, Irvine. Next to Irvine High School.

* Participants: Recent Southern Section Champions, including Amanda Beard (Irvine), Jamie Cail (Marina), Jessica Hayes (University), Lindsay Buck (Laguna Hills), Steve Poling (Laguna Hills), Alan Ong (Mission Viejo), Frank Uxa (Santa Margarita), Sarah Jones (Mission Viejo) and Kyoko Yokouchi (Marina).

* Admission: Free

* Information: (714) 598-0977