Krayzelburg Will Dive Into Turbulent Waters

Lenny Krayzelburg is going to swim at the Maccabiah Games next month in Israel. Krayzelburg’s mother very much wants him to stay home. Krayzelburg’s father very much wants his son to go.

The Maccabiah Games are sometimes called the Jewish Olympics. The Games are held every four years in Israel. Jewish athletes from around the world come to compete and also to fill their souls with a sense of their heritage.

As a triple gold-medal winner at the 2000 Summer Olympics--in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke as well as a member of a relay--Krayzelburg is the featured participant in the 2001 Maccabiah Games.

This happens so often, too often, the troubles of the world bumping heads with the ideals of sports. Violence in the Middle East has caused some coaches and athletes from the U.S. Maccabiah Games team to stay home.

Larry Shyatt, Clemson’s men’s basketball coach, was supposed to lead the U.S. Maccabiah team. But recently, after two nights of no sleep and wrenching introspection, Shyatt decided to pull out.

“We decided my wife and sons wouldn’t make the trip,” Shyatt says. “I had parents of my players, 12 sets of parents, calling me and asking if things were safe. I was going to be responsible for these 12 men and I felt I couldn’t take that risk. Was this a tough choice? Absolutely. I’ve been looking forward to this experience for years.

“If it was just myself, as an athlete, I probably would have made a different decision. But I felt like I was responsible for my players and to their families. If something, God forbid, had happened, I would have felt like that was my responsibility.”

He isn’t alone. A U.S. team that had been expected to number close to 550 athletes and coaches is now about 375, according to Robert Spivak, executive director of the U.S. team.

After a recent rash of Middle East violence, U.S. Maccabiah Games officials gave athletes and coaches a 48-hour window to withdraw from the team. Some, like Shyatt, are choosing to stay home. Krayzelburg chose to stay on the team.

“There has been a lot of tension in my house,” Krayzelburg says. “I understand why my mother worries and I also understand why my father would like me to go. I think it is important. I want to be there. I have never been to Israel.”

Krayzelburg, 25, was speaking during a break from his latest project, the Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Camp at the Westside Jewish Community Center. Nearly 100 kids had come to the pool where Krayzelburg came when he was a skinny 14-year-old immigrant from Ukraine with limited English skills but extraordinary swimming skills.

“I wanted to do this to give something back,” Krayzelburg says. “I worked on this for a while. I would like to show, for Jewish kids, that it is possible to be a good athlete. I believe there is the perception in this country sometimes that Jewish people aren’t good athletes.

“That’s one of the reasons I decided to go to the Maccabiah Games. To maybe say to the world that Jewish people can do sports. And, also, because I would like very much to see Israel and to be in the place where my religion is so important.”

The Maccabiah Games will be the first major meet for Krayzelburg since the Sydney Olympics.

“I have to tell you,” he says, “that I went through a big depression after the Olympics. You work so hard for so long for something and then you have such a great experience. Those two weeks go by so fast and then it’s over.”

For four months Krayzelburg stayed out of the pool. He gained 25 pounds. He made personal appearances for some of his sponsors. He took a vacation. He eased back into the life of the mundane. He decided that this year he would not swim for the national team or compete in the world championships.

“But the Maccabiah Games, for me, this is a big deal,” Krayzelburg says. “Even more, I believe this is the time to go to Israel. I have called many people, hundreds it seems like, to find out all the possible information. I have thought about not going, but when all the problems are happening, I think that is when you can make a real difference.”

Spivak says that while he respects the decisions made by those who have chosen to stay home, “I also feel with the utmost certainty that security will be the best and that our athletes will have a good experience.”

Krayzelburg isn’t quite sure why, deep in his heart, he wants to do this. “I am not the most religious person in the world,” he says. “I would admit that. But yet I have this feeling that I very much want to be in Israel at this time. It will be very different than the Olympics, of course, but also very important.”

As Krayzelburg looks back at last summer, he feels as if he is looking at a different person. “I was a machine,” Krayzelburg says. “I was so focused and everybody had all the expectations, you know? ‘Lenny was going to win the 100 gold and the 200 gold, no doubts about it.’ That was all weighing on me and I don’t think I knew how much until after I had done what I was supposed to.”

Krayzelburg wants to swim in the 2004 Olympics. But he expects the experience to be different.

“I would go to Athens without so much to prove,” he says. “I already know in my heart what I can accomplish.”

And it is his heart that is telling Krayzelburg to swim in Israel. So that’s what he will do.

Diane Pucin can be reached at diane.pucin@latimes.com.