West Puts Business on Hold for Trials

Steve West laughed at the suggestion that this is his last chance. The signs, though, are there heading into the U.S. Olympic swim trials, Wednesday through Aug. 15, in Indianapolis.

West, who was oh-so-close to making the U.S. team in 1996, is 28 and there are kids--such as 18-year-old Brendan Hansen and 19-year-old Kyle Salyards--who are comers in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. Those two, and West, are listed as “potential upsets” in the USA Swimming media guide.

Why, at this time of his life, would West want to dive into that kiddie pool?

His company, Metafuse.com, is beginning to flourish and 60-hour work weeks are becoming the norm. He is still feeling the effects of mononucleosis, which slowed him for two months this spring.

Isn’t it time to get on with his life? Turns out, this is his life. Why else would he set up his business in Irvine, with the pool at Heritage Park sitting between him and his home?

“People ask, ‘Why do you keep swimming?’ ” said West, a graduate of Huntington Beach High. “Why not? They don’t understand why I swim. I really enjoy the competition. I like to train and stay in shape. I’ve been doing this since I was 7. It’s part of my routine. I apply the same things I learned in swimming to my work.”

He just doesn’t add water.

West deviates from his office-pool-home schedule next week in Indianapolis.

West and the kids enter as longshots. Ed Moses, Kurt Grote, Jarrod Marrs and Michael Norment seem the cream of the 100 and 200.

“The trials are going to be fun,” West said. “I’m not really nervous. I’m just going to swim.”

Sure. But there is some unfinished business.

In the 1996 trials, West was a close third in the 100 breaststroke and an even closer third in the 200. Only the top two finishers qualify for the team.

He chased Eric Wunderlich and Grote to the wall in the 200 and was touched out at the finish.

“They both went out really fast from the start,” West said. “I wasn’t going to let those guys take off. I remember the last 50, I was dying, and I remember thinking, ‘I hope these guys die more.’ There is no defense in swimming. You can’t stop someone from swimming fast. It was a bummer, but the earth didn’t stop spinning.”

West continued to train, but work began to cut into his training schedule.

“When I was training for the Olympics, I was working as a computer programmer,” West said. “I got promoted and learned the Internet stuff. I started getting into it.”

He founded Metafuse.com, which helps companies develop web-sites, in 1996 and worked two jobs for a year. He now has 13 employees.

West also got married two years ago.

Yet, even with all that in his life, he continued to swim and train for the trials.

West has always been a talented swimmer. A graduate of Michigan, he finished second in the 200 breaststroke and third in the 100 at the Goodwill Games in 1994.

“I’m not sure I can train like I did when I was in high school,” West said. “I can’t put my life on hold just for swimming. It was not feasible putting things off for four years.”

Still, last summer he finished second in the 200 breaststroke. His time of 2 minutes 16.26 seconds was only .24 seconds off what he had done at the Goodwill Games five years earlier.

He looked like a contender through the winter, then his times deteriorated drastically. West, who has never failed to make a championship final at the senior nationals, nearly missed the 100 and 200 finals in March.

What he didn’t know for two months was that his sore throat was caused by mono. West continued to train and work.

“I noticed my energy level was down, but I was working really hard and putting in a lot of hours,” West said. “Finally, the doctor figured it out.”

It took West out of the pool and out of the running for the Olympic team, or so he thought. But in June, he turned in quality times at the Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions.

“Going into the meet, I was hoping I could do a 2:24,” West said. “I swam a 2:22 in the morning prelims and a 2:18 in the final. That was surprising since I had been out of it in April and May.

“It was like in 1991, when I had the measles and couldn’t train. I came back that summer and won a couple medals at the Olympic Festival. That was a breakthrough summer for me. Maybe I’ll have another one.”

Whether he makes it or not, West said, “I’m doing pretty good for a 28-year-old.”

WHO’S TO BLAME?

The 100- and 200-meter women’s breaststrokes may be the most competitive at the trials.

Megan Quann and Kristy Kowal are the favorites in both races. Staciana Stitts, Amy Balcerzak and Kristen Woodring are expected to challenge in the 100. Maddy Crippen and Jenna Street are contenders in the 200.

The fields are so fast that Amanda Beard, a silver medalist in the 100 and 200 in the 1996 Olympics, is a longshot. Apparently she can blame herself for that.

“What Amanda did in 1996 turned everyone onto this,” said Irvine Novaquatics Coach Dave Salo, who trained Beard until this year. “It waved a flag to young swimmers and coaches, that at 14 you can do this gig and be successful.

“Megan Quann and Staciana Stitts are the result of that. People realized you didn’t have to be 22 or 23 to be an Olympic athlete.”

TAKING A DIVE

Members of the U.S. Olympic diving team will compete in the National Outdoors Diving Championships at the Mission Viejo Aquatic Center, Tuesday through Aug. 13.

Mark Ruiz, David Pichler and Troy Dumais will compete in the men’s platform and three-meter competition. Michelle Davison, Sara Reiling and Jenny Keim will compete in the women’s platform and three-meter competitions. All seven are going to the Olympics.

The three-meter and platform finals will be Aug. 13, beginning at 11 a.m.

If you have an item or idea for the swimming report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at chris.foster@latimes.com