Cashion Gets Taste of What’s to Come

There were mainly two types of swimmers at the Janet Evans Invitational: Those plowing ahead to next month’s Olympic trials, damn the full-body-Speedos. And those left with that sinking feeling--three years of training for this?

Floating in the middle were the likes of Courtney Cashion. She may not be the next great U.S. swimmer, and she may not have Sydney on her itinerary, but Cashion is on the rise.

At 14, she has qualified for the Olympic trials, where her chances pretty much depend on disqualification of nearly everyone in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles, her two events. Yet, time is on her side.

“My career is just starting,” said Cashion, who will be a freshman at Irvine High this fall. “This year, I will get the experience. Hopefully in 2004, I’ll be ready for it.”

That depends. Cashion, who swims for the Irvine Novaquatics, is a raw talent. She started swimming competitively only three years ago. By the time they reached 11, many of the people she faces already had a shelf-full of medals collecting dust.

But she is hardly out of her depth.

Cashion reached the 100 freestyle final at the four-day Evans meet, which ended Sunday. She was a girl facing women, and even one senior citizen. Cashion wasn’t even born when Dara Torres, 33, won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. Torres, Jenny Thompson (26) and Amy Van Dyken (27)--three of the top sprinters in the United States--competed in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

Cashion finished with the 12th-fastest time in the 50 (26.47) and the 13th-fastest in the 100 (57.78). She will compete in those events again at the trials, but the competition hardly seems to cower her.

“I don’t really worry about who I’m racing against,” Cashion said. “I don’t stand up there thinking, ‘Oh, they’re going to beat me.’ I give myself a fair chance.”

That attitude could make her a handful in years to come, for opponents and her coach. Cashion is focused, yet not obsessed--so far.

“My mom gets all excited about it,” Cashion said. “She’ll go, ‘You see where you’re seeded at the trials? Isn’t it exciting?’ And I go, ‘Not really.’ Maybe it takes awhile for these things to sink in. It still hasn’t hit me that I’m going to the Olympic trials. I’m kind of nonchalant.”

Which, believe it or not, can be an asset in a sport where athletes fret over every hundredth of a second.

“Part of the reason she has come this far so fast is her laissez-faire attitude,” Novaquatics Coach Dave Salo said. “She doesn’t take anything really seriously.”

For that she has Salo.

“My stroke was pretty bad until lately,” Cashion said. “He has been on my back about it.”

Technique will come. But Cashion does have an edge over other swimmers in that she is a well-rounded athlete. She ran track and field before injuring her knee tripping over a hurdle, which started her on the road to her swimming career.

“She has athletic skills that transfer to the water,” Salo said.

When, or if, they will be realized remains to be seen. But Cashion will get a taste of the big time at the trials, and that she is taking very seriously.

“It seemed like yesterday that Dave was saying, ‘Only 336 days to the trials,’ ” Cashion said. “Now they’re four weeks off. Time goes by so fast, except when you’re in the pool training.”

AROUND THE WORLD

Mike Cavic (Tustin High) decided not to swim in the European Championships after qualifying for the Yugoslavia Olympic team in the 100 backstroke at the Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions in June.

Cavic had a time of 54.7 at the Mission Viejo meet, well below the qualifying time of 55.2. His previous best time was 55.3

He had planned to make his push for the team at the European Championships, which were held two weeks ago. Instead, he will compete in the Yugoslavia National Championships this week.

* Turkey’s Derya Buyukuncu had a breakthrough meet at the European Championships, where he finished third in the 100 backstroke, marking the first time he has made it past the preliminaries. He has been competing in the meet since 1992.

Buyukuncu, who attended Woodbridge High, will compete for Turkey in the Olympics. He was in Atlanta in 1996 but did not advance past the prelims.

* Meanwhile, Erin Volcan (Canyon High) came up short in her quest to qualify for the Venezuelan team in the 200 backstroke.

She went into the Janet Evans meet feeling it was her last chance. With members of the Venezuelan team also competing, Volcan swam a personal-best 2:17.94, but she failed to make the qualifying time of 2:14.

THIS WEEK

The Southwest Championships will be held at the Heritage Park Swim Complex today through Sunday. The meet will feature 300 swimmers from Southern California.

Prelims are at 9 a.m. and finals begin at 5 p.m.

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