Now He’s Cutting Loose
Danny Beal’s reaction wasn’t all that different from other teenagers who have proudly said goodbye to their days of wearing braces.
He quickly emerged from his shell -- in his case, a full upper-body cast -- and felt a newfound freedom to put himself before others.
Beal, a junior at Goleta Dos Pueblos, wore a back brace for 2 1/2 years as treatment to thwart scoliosis, a gradual curvature of the spine. The body cast stretched from Beal’s hips to his arm pits and only came off two hours a day during swim workouts.
When the brace was permanently removed midway though his freshman year, Beal had plenty of incentive to train longer and harder. He worked his way up the ladder at the Santa Barbara Swim Club and quickly became a key member on the Dos Pueblos swim team.
“Wearing that back brace and having that limitation made him hungrier as he got older,” said Ira Klein, his club coach the last four years. “He wanted to prove that he could do it all.”
He nearly did at last month’s Southern Section Division I boys’ final.
Beal strung together the top individual performance of the meet, winning the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly and swimming with Mike Bowen, Kevin Kuga and Egan Gans on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Those victories produced a large portion of the Chargers’ fourth-place point total and cinched Beal’s position as The Times’ boys’ swimmer of the year.
Beal said he wasn’t overly surprised to achieve his individual goals but never expected the Chargers to put together such a successful conclusion to their season.
Last year, Dos Pueblos didn’t qualify for the Division I final in the 200 medley relay. And in the 400 freestyle relay, the Chargers finished seventh of eight teams. But the addition of Gans and Kuga and the steady improvement of all four members produced different results this spring.
“We kind of went into the season not really sure what we had,” said Beal. “But then as we got closer and closer to [the Southern Section finals], we formed this core group of guys and started focusing on the relays.”
In individual races, Beal said he was most thrilled with his victory in the 200 freestyle, considering it was the second consecutive season he raced against an Olympic-caliber opponent.
Last year, Beal finished as runner-up, about five seconds behind 2000 Olympian Aaron Peirsol, a senior at Newport Harbor who was also world-record holder in the 200-meter backstroke.
Beal looked forward to winning the event this season, until he learned Larsen Jensen had transferred to Division I power Mission Viejo. Beal knew Jensen was the U.S.-record holder in the 800-meter freestyle and would most likely compete in the 200 freestyle at the section finals, since it’s the second-longest freestyle event at the high school level.
“Knowing the caliber of swimmer he is, I had doubts,” Beal said. “I thought, ‘Do I really want to race him?’ ”
Klein quickly helped put those thoughts to rest.
“He told me I could beat him,” Beal said. “He said, ‘You can’t let him mentally psyche you out.’ ”
Not surprisingly, Beal won the race in the last 50 yards, turning a -0.2-second lead into a nearly two-second victory. His winning time of 1:39.15 was nearly four seconds slower than Peirsol’s in 2002 but still represented a lifetime best.
Though Beal’s premier event is the 200 butterfly, a distance not contested in high school, he and Klein believe the swimmer’s best chance at an Olympic berth may be in the 200 freestyle, where more qualifying berths are available to help fill the freestyle relay teams.
Beal has already qualified for the Olympic trials next year and is looking forward to competing for a top-notch college program. He figures he will be entering his prime when qualifying begins for the 2008 Olympics.
“He can take it as far as he wants to go,” Klein said.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
BOYS’ SWIMMING AT A GLANCE
*--* FINAL RANKINGS
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1. MISSION VIEJO
Won the Division I title behind Larsen Jensen’s victory in the 500 freestyle, an event that had two other Diablo swimmers in the top eight.
2. SAN CLEMENTE
Kenny Yamamoto finished second in the 100 backstroke and third in the individual medley and swam the opening leg on the second-place medley relay, helping Tritons finish runner-up in Division I.
3. ANAHEIM SERVITE
Adam Hewko won the individual medley and breaststroke, anchored the second-place 400 free relay and swam second on the fourth-place medley relay, leading Friars to third place in Division I.
4. GOLETA DOS PUEBLOS
Finished fourth in Division I behind Danny Beal, who won the 200 free and butterfly events, anchored the winning 400 free relay and swam third on the winning medley relay.
5. H. BEACH EDISON
Scored big points with third-place finish in the 400 free relay and fourth in the 200 free relay, lifting Chargers to fifth place in Division I.
6. IRVINE
Showed its strength in the breaststroke again this season, placing three swimmers in the top seven, led by runner-up Evan Hsiao, and finishing sixth in Division I.
7. L.A. LOYOLA
Andrew Plumb was fourth in the 100 and 200 frees, led off the 400 free relay that finished sixth and anchored the 200 free relay to seventh.
8. LA VERNE DAMIEN
Secured enough points with fifth-place finishes in medley relay and 200 free relay to finish eighth in Division I.
9. SANTA MARGARITA
Doug Ciolli finished fifth in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 free and swam legs on the 200 free relay that finished sixth and the 400 free relay that finished seventh, helping Eagles to ninth in Division I.
10. RIVERSIDE POLY
Won the Division II title after winning the meet-ending 400 free relay with the top time in any division. Jason Lyons swam a leg on the relay and also won the 200 free with the second-fastest time in any division.
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*--* FIRST TEAM
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200 MEDLEY RELAY: Goleta Dos Pueblos (Mike Bowen, Jr., Egan Gans, Jr., Danny Beal, Jr., Kevin Kuga, Fr.). Didn’t make Division I final last season, but came together this spring to win.
200 FREESTYLE: Danny Beal (Dos Pueblos), Jr. After finishing runner-up to Aaron Peirsol last season, took first at Division I final in 1:39.15.
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Adam Hewko (Anaheim Servite), Jr. The second-best performer at the Division I championships while winning IM title for the second consecutive year.
50 FREESTYLE: Kevin McCoy (Fountain Valley), Sr. Finished first in 20.90 against a talented Division I field.
100 BUTTERFLY: Danny Beal (Dos Pueblos), Jr. Fourth a year ago, won Division I title in 49.04.
100 FREESTYLE: Tyler Wilson (Santa Barbara), Jr. Eighth in this even a year ago, took first in Division I final in 46.00.
500 FREESTYLE: Larsen Jensen (Mission Viejo), Sr. American record-holder in 800-meter freestyle cruised to Division I title.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY: Los Alamitos (Byron Bailey, Jr., Zach Hughes, Sr., David Mills, Jr., Erik Chrisman, Sr.). Won the Division I title in 1:25.87, despite not having a swimmer among the top 11 in 50 freestyle.
100 BACKSTROKE: Andrew Cole (Newport Harbor), Sr. After winning Division I title in 100 freestyle last season, focused on backstroke, where he won a second title in 51.50.
100 BREASTSTROKE: Dan Simonsen (La Verne Bonita), Sr. Set a Division IV record of 56.87, which was the fastest time among all divisions.
400 FREESTYLE RELAY: Riverside Poly (James Gray, Sr., Mike Looy, Sr., Andrew Hetzner, Jr., Jason Lyons, Sr.). Won meet-ending event to claim team title by 1.5 points over Irvine University.
DIVING: Mike Hilde (Laguna Hills), Sr. Beat defending champion Dwight Dumais of Ventura Buena to win the Division I title.
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*--* SECOND TEAM
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200 MEDLEY RELAY: San Clemente (Kenny Yamamoto, Sr., Chris Cunningham, Sr., Andy Skora, Sr., Grant Edgcomb, Jr.). 200 FREESTYLE: Jason Lyons (Riverside Poly), Sr. 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Louis Vayo (Fullerton Troy), Jr. 50 FREESTYLE: Curtis Williamson (Santa Barbara), Sr. 100 BUTTERFLY: Brandon Gladys (Anaheim Esperanza), Sr. 100 FREESTYLE: Kevin McCoy (Fountain Valley), Sr. 500 FREESTYLE: Louis Vayo (Troy), Jr. 200 FREESTYLE RELAY: Servite (Brent Hurley, Jr., Trevor Clark, Sr., Scott Schauer, Fr., Pat Buckner, Sr.). 100 BACKSTROKE: Kenny Yamamoto (San Clemente), Sr. 100 BREASTSTROKE: Adam Hewko (Servite), Jr. 400 FREESTYLE RELAY: Dos Pueblos (Mike Bowen, Jr., Kevin Kuga, Fr., Egan Gans, Jr., Danny Beal, Jr.). DIVING: Dwight Dumais (Buena), So.