Nice Guy Finishes First

The duel in the pool between sprint stars Gary Hall Jr. and Alexander Popov often spilled over and out of the pool. Hall made fun of Popov’s ears. Popov ripped Hall’s family.

But Popov won when they raced in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100 freestyle at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands is taking a different approach to a possible confrontation next year at the Olympics in Sydney.

“He is a great champion,” van den Hoogenband said of Popov. “He’s a nice person. A great sportsman.”

It’s no act. The 21-year-old from Geldrop was the most affable, animated guy on the deck at the U.S. Open Saturday. He seemed as if he was ready to join the large Aussie contingent, joking around with his new mates.

And the nice guy is also touching the wall first.

He won six gold medals at the European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, in July, beating Popov in the 50 and 100. It was the first time Popov, the world-record holder and two-time Olympic champion, had lost in the 100 in a major meet.

On the final day of this meet, van den Hoogenband established a meet record in the 100 freestyle, winning in 49.18 seconds. Australian Michael Klim was second (49.32) and Jason Lezak of the Irvine Novaquatics took third (49.58).

Previously, van den Hoogenband won the 200 freestyle and was second in the 50 freestyle. He celebrated the meet record by making fun of his lousy start when he chatted with the media.

“It was terrible,” he said. “My coach was almost crying.”

The eclectic youngster knows the value of a good story. In addition to attending medical school, he is entertaining his Dutch fans by writing about himself.

“It’s fun,” he said. “The first time I had to write, I was a little bit nervous. All the people were reading me. It was a little bit strange. I was writing about everything in my life, my work in the hospital, a friend of mine, judo.”

He comes from a sporting background. His mother was a swimmer and once coached him. His father played water polo and is the team doctor for the vaunted Dutch soccer team, PSV Eindhoven.

“I’m a normal person,” he said. “My father is a surgeon and now everyone is, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be one.’ ”

First, there is the matter of Sydney. A Dutchman has never won an Olympic gold medal in swimming, and his performance at Istanbul has raised expectations.

“It’s only one meet that counts,” he said of the Olympics. “People think I’m going to win six gold medals now. It’s kind of like a lottery. I can only do my best.”

In addition to van den Hoogenband’s meet record, there were three others Saturday: Tom Malchow in the 200 butterfly (1:57.16), Jenny Thompson in the 100 freestyle (55.02) and Australian Susan O’Neill in the 200 butterfly (2:07.20). “It’s been really good for me to come over here because back in Australia, I would have won all my races,” said O’Neill, who also has two second-place finishes here. “So it’s good to come over and get beat. That puts everything into perspective and makes you train harder.”

Two other local swimmers had top-three finishes. USC freshman Erik Vendt was third in the 1,500 freestyle in 15:24.22. Juan Veloz, a 17-year-old from Mexico who swims for the Mission Viejo Nadadores, was third in the 200 butterfly in 1:59.91.