Politics Sank Swimmer’s Dream : Former El Camino Real High and USC Standout Remains Bitter Over U.S. Boycott of ’80 Olympics That Deprived Him of Opportunity of a Lifetime

In 1980, the United States and several other countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. For most U.S. Olympians, the boycott ended their dream of appearing in the Olympics. Nobody could have taken the disappointment harder than swimmer Brian Roney.

“It was extremely devastating,” said Roney, who qualified for the 1980 U.S. team in the 400-meter freestyle. “My whole life had been geared to being in the Olympics.”

Roney, assistant superintendent at Castaic Lake Recreation Area, is still angry and sad over missing the Olympics “and will be for the rest of my life.” The 1980 official U. S. team ring, which he wears on his right hand, serves as a painful reminder, “a heart on a sleeve thing,” he said wistfully.

From the time he’d been an 8-year-old sensation from Woodland Hills, coaches had been telling Roney he was “Olympic caliber.” His record-breaking years at El Camino Real High and USC, he had hoped, “would pay off when I marched in the Olympic opening ceremony. I was living for that.”

Roney’s bitterness is directed at former President Jimmy Carter. “They always said it was the U. S. Olympic Committee’s decision to boycott the Games,” Roney said, “but the athletes knew it was Carter’s.” Although the Olympics is supposed to be apolitical, the boycott “was purely political,” Roney added. “The athletes would have gone.”

Had the boycott pressured the Soviets to pull out of Afghanistan, Roney said he would not be resentful today. But Gorbachev and perestroika wouldn’t come along until 1985 and the Soviets’ Afghanistan incursion wouldn’t end until 1988.

The U.S. team “sure made an impact by not going to Moscow,” Roney said sarcastically. All the boycott effectively did, Roney insisted, was make the athletes pawns in the Cold War and ruin a lot of dreams.

Disregarding 1980, the years have been kind to Roney, 31. Married with a 3-year-old daughter and a baby on the way, Roney doesn’t carry a visible chip on his shoulder about the Moscow Olympics. He gets upset only when “people bring it up.” Most of the time, he’s affable, pleasant and good-natured.

“Other swimmers used to make jokes about my feet,” volunteered Roney, a Newhall resident. His size 14s were regarded as “built-in flippers, but they definitely helped my kicking,” he said, sitting behind his desk in the county Department of Parks and Recreation office at lower Castaic Lake.

The youngest of four children, Roney followed in the wake of his siblings, particularly the eldest. Kevin, seven years older than Brian, was a star swimmer at both El Camino Real and Cal State Northridge. “My parents didn’t push us into swimming,” Brian said. “It just happened naturally.”

In high school, Roney set Valley and City Section records in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. His time in the 200, 1:39.5, was the best in the nation in 1978 for a high school swimmer and his 500 time of 4:25 was second-fastest.

“He was probably the best distance swimmer to ever come out of the Valley,” said USC swim Coach Peter Daland, who beat out Cal and Arizona for Roney’s services.

At USC, Roney set a freshman record in the 1,000-yard freestyle and “scored points in the NCAAs,” Daland said, but Roney never finished in the top three. Daland, however, wasn’t surprised when Roney qualified third in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials. “I knew he could do it,” the coach said. “The Olympics meant a lot to him. It was just a matter of how much he’d put into” his qualifying efforts.

During his last two years at USC, Roney believes he suffered from a post-Olympic emotional hangover and lost his zest for swimming. Daland agrees that the boycott probably had some negative effect on Roney.

Graduating in the spring of 1982 with a degree in psychology, Roney “couldn’t get the Olympic bug out of me” and decided to postpone a career to prepare for the 1984 Olympic trials. For a year, he worked part time as a lifeguard at Castaic and lived at home. “My parents supported me,” he said. “No support, no swim.”

In 1983, he relocated to train at the University of Arizona under Coach Dick Jochums. A year later, he tried out for the national team but finished 17th in the 400-meter freestyle, coming to the realization that “it just wasn’t there any more.” But he took pride in having qualified for the trials. “That’s still an accomplishment,” he said.

Ready for the real world, Roney went back to Castaic, working his way up the ranks in administration at the 8,000-acre county park. Although an Olympic medal doesn’t hang in his office, a plaque for “employee of the month” does. “I always liked this facility,” he said, “and I like working with people.”

Roney has finally gotten the Olympic bug out of his system, but the competitive bug still lingers. Three times a week, he trains for masters events with the Matador Aquatic Club at CSUN, and he also enters triathlons.

His swimming weight is now 230, down 12 pounds since he got back in the pool but still a lot to drag through the water. Fortunately, he said, “Muscle is heavier than fat.”