Staying Home Against Her Will

If it were just another week in early July, there’s nowhere Kaitlin Sandeno would rather be than entertaining at the Janet Evans Invitational at USC.

The swim meet, which runs today through Sunday, is usually one of the can’t-miss outdoor events of the year for elite swimmers, attracting past and future Olympians from across the country.

But most of the top Americans are skipping the meet as they prepare for the FINA world championships July 20-27 in Barcelona. Sandeno also would prefer to be in Spain with Trojan swim club teammates Erik Vendt and Lindsay Benko and Coach Mark Schubert, but a back injury caused her to come up short in qualifying at last summer’s national championships.

It’s a big loss for the U.S. swim team, which could have leaned on the versatile swimmer to earn valuable points in several events. Sandeno owns the world’s fastest time in the women’s 400-meter individual medley this year, won a bronze medal in the 800 freestyle at the 2000 Olympics and is capable of winning a medal in the 200 butterfly.

Instead, this will mark the second consecutive summer she hasn’t participated in an international meet.

“It didn’t bother me initially, but now that my teammates and Coach Schubert are getting ready to go [to Barcelona], I kind of wish I was going,” Sandeno said last week.

Schubert, who will coach the U.S. women’s Olympic swim team in 2004, shares Sandeno’s disappointment, especially because she has been swimming so well lately, but he tries to keep her focused on the big picture.

“When all is said and done, it won’t matter [that she missed the world championships] because next summer she has a chance to go to the Olympic Games and win a gold medal,” he said. “She wants to swim everything right now, but she needs to keep her eye on the big prize.”

Sandeno, 20, won her Olympic medal shortly before her senior year at El Toro High. Her time of 8 minutes 24.29 seconds in the 800 freestyle was at the time the third-fastest by an American woman. Sandeno also finished fourth in the 400 individual medley and sixth in the 200 butterfly, marking the first time an American had swam that combination at the Olympics.

Sandeno earned a scholarship to USC and had a strong freshman season, finishing fourth in the 400-yard individual medley at the 2002 NCAA championships and sixth in the 200 butterfly. But shortly after, she began experiencing back pain and was diagnosed with a stress fracture, probably from overexertion. She initially cut back her schedule and then stayed out of the water for nearly three months, returning shortly before the summer national championships last August.

She knew going into the meet she was unprepared to qualify for the world championships. On the opening day, she had to settle for the consolation final in the 400 individual medley, where she finished third in 4:52.00. Two days later, she finished sixth in the 200 butterfly in 2:13.04.

“I basically went to nationals to have fun and see some old club coaches,” Sandeno said. “I was not in shape and not swimming fast enough to make the team, even though I am swimming at my times, if not faster, right now.”

As proof, Sandeno won her sixth U.S. title in the 400-yard individual medley this spring, her seventh national title overall. Three days later, she shattered that mark at the Duel in the Pool, a head-to-head meet against Australia, winning in 3:41.89, the top time in the world this year. Sandeno also won the 200 butterfly in 2:10.69.

She continued to prove she’s fully recovered at the four-day TYR Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo in mid-June. She swam 10 events, winning the 400 individual medley and 1,500 freestyle, and was named women’s high-point winner.

However, a week later at the Santa Clara Invitational, she suffered an asthma attack after winning the 400 individual medley. It was serious enough that she withdrew from her remaining events and returned home.

“I was happy with my time, I just couldn’t catch my breath afterward,” she said “It was scary, I kind of panicked a little.”

Sandeno said she has had no aftereffects and plans to swim her regular schedule this week. That’s about half the number of events she swam at the Swim Meet of Champions.

Swimming 10 events, she said, “was just something I needed to do. I did that a lot when I was younger, I just didn’t have an opportunity lately.”