SWIMMING L.A. INVITATIONAL : Kurza Takes Long Road to 100 Freestyle Victory

Brian Kurza made a triumphant swimming comeback Friday, but it was nothing compared to the return he made four months ago from the depths of a severe depression.

The 100-meter freestyle champion in the Los Angeles Invitational at USC, Kurza had left UCLA 14 months ago to live in Chicago, where he underwent psychiatric treatment.

“I had to tap into what had been bothering me the last 15-20 years,” said Kurza, 21.

“It had been gradually getting worse since high school. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t wake up or go to school. I was so afraid of life, of facing people, of expectations from myself and others. I was so fearful that I stayed in bed. That was my security, my bed. I would just sit there and stare at the wall.”

Kurza found the courage to confide in UCLA Coach Ron Ballatore, who helped Kurza find a therapist, but the sessions weren’t frequent enough. “I kept falling apart,” Kurza said. “I finally had to go home where it all started.”

Initially, the treatment didn’t help and Kurza began eating compulsively. “Instead of eating one or two pieces of pie, I’d eat five or six,” said Kurza, who gained 30 pounds. This spring, Kurza finally felt strong enough emotionally to go back to UCLA.

Friday, his time of 50.75 seconds in the preliminaries was his fastest ever, and in the finals he finished in 51.20 to beat world recold-holder Matt Biondi and high school standout Joey Hudepohl, but Kurza does not want to make too much of the performance.

“I’m not making any projections,” he said. “I’m taking it one day at a time. I’m just trying to take care of my responsibilities.”

He has never been so excited about swimming, however.

“Before, I’d just go through the motions and if I didn’t swim well I’d beat myself up,” said Kurza, whose previous meet had been the NCAA championships last year. “I’d punch a wall. I was so screwed up, I abused my body. At NCAAs, I was smoking cigarettes between prelims and finals, is that stupid? I was there because I was a swimmer. I was supposed to be there. Now I want to be there.”

Swimming Notes

Summer Sanders, who had been bothered by shoulder tendinitis, dominated the 200 butterfly with a 2:13.68. In the men’s 200 butterfly, Dave Wharton, a senior at USC last spring, was the victor after Melvin Stewart, the world record-holder in the event, was disqualified in preliminaries. Stewart, of Las Vegas Gold, disagreed with the official who cited him for a one-hand touch. . . . Placentia’s Janet Evans won the 400 freestyle in 4:13.55.