Coming Along Swimmingly

As preparations for the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials go, things can’t get much better for swimmer Anthony Ervin, a graduate of Hart High.

But he thinks he can.

“I definitely have room for improvement,” Ervin said. “I don’t think I’m anywhere near what I’m capable of yet.”

That notion is exciting to Ervin, who just finished a fantastic freshman year at California, and to everyone else connected with a unique international contingent of swimmers that has dubbed itself Sprint Team 2000.

“We don’t talk about records, we talk about potential,” said Mike Bottom, Sprint Team 2000 coach, who is Cal associate head coach in charge of sprinters. “And I just think that the world is not limited with Anthony. Let’s put it this way: Michael Jordan is an athlete Anthony respects, admires and emulates.”

Whether Ervin, 19, becomes the Michael Jordan of swimming remains to be seen.

His performances at Cal have Ervin’s name being mentioned in the same breath with greats such as Alexander Popov of Russia, the 50- and 100-meter long-course world record-holder; Gary Hall Jr., the 1996 Olympic silver medalist for the U.S. in both sprints, and Tom Jager, the American and former world record-holder at 50 meters.

Sprint Team 2000, sponsored by the Phoenix-based Athletes International Ministries, is comprised of 10 sprinters. All have either qualified to represent their countries in the Olympics or will compete in Olympic trials. Ervin will be trying to make the U.S. team during trials Aug. 9-16 in Indianapolis.

Ervin and the rest of the group have spent the last two months in near seclusion at the Phoenix Swim Club, working out for as many as six hours a day.

“This is a one-of-a-kind thing,” said Jon Olsen, a 31-year-old veteran of the 1992 and ’96 Olympics who has won four gold medals in relays, was fourth in the 100 meters at the ’96 Games, and is part of Sprint Team 2000.

“We’ve got 10 guys here, and all 10 could be at the Olympics. The day-to-day competition has been incredible. Most people don’t have this kind of competition until they get to the Olympics.”

Team members are among an international field of more than 800 swimmers participating in the Janet Evans Invitational that began Thursday and runs through Sunday at McDonald’s Swim Stadium on the USC campus.

“This is definitely a treat,” said Ervin, The Times’ Valley/Ventura County region swimmer of the year in 1999. “I’m totally gearing toward trials. This whole summer, that’s what I’ve been training for. I’m training more than I ever have in my life.”

Ervin, though, has been unfazed.

“I think the one big thing I’ve noticed about Anthony is, he’s not afraid of anybody when he’s up on the blocks,” Olsen said. “I see the determination and the talent, and it’s exciting to see the future he has in front of him.”

Ervin perhaps gave a preview when he set a short-course world record with a 50-meter time of 21.21 seconds in the NCAA Division I Championships in Minneapolis in March, surpassing the 1998 standard of 21.31 set by Mark Foster of Britain.

A short-course pool is 25 meters or 25 yards long and requires more turns by swimmers than an Olympic-sized, long-course pool of 50 meters.

“A world record,” Ervin said with a laugh. “That was pretty much the last thing on my mind. I have no idea how it happened. I just felt really good, and when I was done, I looked up and saw the time. It was incredible.”

Ervin’s performance in the rest of the NCAA meet wasn’t bad, either. He broke his own U.S. Open short-course record in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 47.36, .62 seconds off the world record set by Popov in 1994.

Open records are those set in races that take place on American soil but which also may include non-Americans.

“I don’t think anybody expected him to swim that fast,” Bottom said. “But we leave the possibilities open.

“Anthony is a talented individual. There’s a lot of athletes with talent out there, but there’s very few with the kind of chemistry and competitiveness that he has.”

Ervin’s performances were good for NCAA titles in both events after he finished second to Cal teammate Bart Kizierowski in each race at the Pacific 10 Conference championships.

The first Cal swimmer since 1997 to win multiple NCAA individual titles, Ervin swam the second leg on the Golden Bears’ winning 400-meter freestyle relay that set a U.S. Open record in 3:11.25, nearly five seconds faster than the previous standard of 3:16.11 set in 1978.

For his efforts, Ervin was selected Pac-10 men’s newcomer of the year.

“Things have gone amazingly well,” Ervin said. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. I was thinking maybe in a couple years I’d be pretty good. I was just trying to get to the NCAAs.”

Even that would have been a big step from his days at Hart, where Ervin set Southern Section Division II records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles as a senior in 1999.

“Anybody who goes from high school to jumping to the best in the world, wow,” said Steve Neale, Hart boys’ coach. “We’re very proud of him. He’s really accomplished something, and it’s kind of a legacy. Our kids still talk about him.”

Ervin hopes to give people more to talk about in the months ahead.

He has qualified for the Olympic trials in the 50- and 100-meter races, establishing career bests recently in the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions. After the trials, he hopes the Olympics beckon.

“I think I’m in a position to make a relay,” Ervin said. “And in the 50, you never know what can happen.”