SWIMMING : Rise of USC, UCLA Women Is Dramatic

Only two years ago, USC finished 25th at the NCAA women’s swimming meet for the second consecutive year. And as recently as 1987, UCLA placed 15th.

Now, those teams expect to be fighting each other--and Florida or California--for fourth place at the NCAA meet March 21-23 in Indianapolis.

Although fourth may not sound exciting, it can be when one considers the state of the Trojans and Bruins only a few years ago and the dominance of defending champion Texas and 1990 runner-up Stanford. Between them, Texas and Stanford have won the last eight titles.

The keys to the turnarounds have been the efforts of third-year Trojan Coach Darrell Fick and third-year UCLA Coach Cyndi Gallagher.

Under Fick, an All-American from Texas, USC went from 25th in 1989 to sixth last year--the biggest improvement by any team in the country.

Fick, an assistant to Trojan men’s Coach Peter Daland from 1983-88, recruited four of USC’s five current All-Americans.

Gallagher earned Pacific 10 coach-of-the-year honors last season and guided UCLA to a fifth-place finish, its best in the NCAA meet.

A former Bruin All-American and UCLA assistant coach from 1982-87, Gallagher recruited three of UCLA’s five All-Americans when she took over as head coach.

The Bruins and the Trojans demonstrated in a dual meet last Saturday that they are very close. UCLA prevailed, 152-148, and eight of the 13 races were decided by less than a second.

“It is not over,” UCLA senior Sheri Smith said. “We’ll see them in the Pac-10s and the NCAAs, and that is when it really counts. They are really a strong team.”

The Trojans were without breaststroker-sprint freestyler Leslie Seward, who suffered a strained knee and is not expected to return until the NCAA meet.

Considering her absence, Fick was pleased.

“We swam better than we have all year, and we have our NCAA cuts (qualifying times),” he said. “If I could be happy with a loss, I’m happy with the performances. There used to be a gap between UCLA and SC, but I don’t see that gap any more.”

UCLA junior sprinter Kris Stoudt is returning to her times of a year ago after a slow start. Initially, Stoudt was unable to handle the expectations caused by her surprising third-place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly at the NCAA meet last season.

“I never saw myself as a great swimmer,” Stoudt said. “Then all of a sudden people are expecting more than I thought I could do. With those expectations and my shoulder problems, there was a lot of frustration. I didn’t have the motivation to come to practice. Cyndi (Gallagher) was the one who finally whipped me into shape.”

Not only did Gallagher motivate Stoudt, she devised a practice routine to cope with Stoudt’s lingering shoulder problems.

Stoudt’s time in the water and her speed are restricted to prevent further injury to her shoulder. An extensive weight-training program is designed to compensate for her time out of the water. It gives her the explosiveness she needs for starts, turns and sprinting.

Stanford sophomore Jeff Rouse, the 100-meter backstroke world champion, is expected to miss the Pac-10 meet March 7-9 at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach because of a broken left wrist, incurred when he slipped on a stairwell.

Rouse will have the cast taken off before the NCAA men’s meet March 28-30 in Austin, Tex., but it is uncertain if he will compete.

Even if Rouse can swim--he won the World Championships with a cracked rib--the weeks of limited training may affect his speed. Because his cast is plastic, he can get into the water but has been restricted to kicking.

“His legs are going to be in great shape and his upper body is rested, so he could be faster than ever,” Stanford Coach Skip Kenney said.

The second-ranked Stanford women upset No. 1 Texas, 158.5-141.5, at Austin, Tex., in a prelude to the NCAA meet. Cardinal sophomore Janel Jorgensen, who is often overshadowed by teammates Janet Evans and Summer Sanders, won three events and led off the victorious medley relay. The teams combined for 39 NCAA qualifying standards.

“It gave us some confidence, but we both know--Texas and Stanford that is--that dual meets last two to three days as far as excitement (goes), but NCAAs last forever,” Stanford Coach Richard Quick said.

Swimming Notes

Mark Spitz has added another race to his comeback schedule, April 27 against Matt Biondi at an undetermined location in Los Angeles. The two will race 50 meters of butterfly, half the distance Spitz will swim in his effort to qualify for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials. ABC’s Wide World of Sports is expected to televise the event live and a purse of $40,000-$50,000 will be paid. Spitz’s first race on the comeback trail is set for April 13 against Germany’s Michael Gross. The site was originally Gifu, Japan, but according to Spitz it may be moved to Mexico City.

Angel Myers also is making a comeback. Myers, who was dropped from the U.S. Olympic team in 1988 for testing positive for a banned substance, posted the eighth-fastest time in the world in the 50-meter freestyle (26.04 seconds) at a meet in Georgia. She swam under her married name, Martino.

Now that the combined forces of the NCAA, U.S. Swimming and YMCA swimmers, coaches and parents have saved the sport from the most severe NCAA reforms, swimming is gearing up to show the NCAA Presidents Commission that its house is in order. According to Dale Neuberger, executive director of the College Swim Coaches Assn. of America, data are being compiled to show the academic excellence of swimmers, and a community-service program modeled after the new one at USC is being developed to demonstrate the multidimensional personalities of swimmers.

The Chris Silva Memorial Award will be presented to a UCLA swimmer Saturday when the Bruins play host to USC. According to UCLA Coach Ron Ballatore, the award will go to a swimmer who demonstrates Silva’s qualities, team spirit, pride, courage, and an excellence in relays. The Bruins dedicated their season to Silva, who died Aug. 19 in a car accident.

COMING MEETS: NCAA, Men: USC at UCLA, Saturday, 1 p.m.; Cal at Stanford, Saturday, 1 p.m.; Pacific 10 Conference meet at Belmont Plaza, Long Beach, March 7-9; Women: Pacific 10 meet at Federal Way, Wash., Feb. 28-March 2.