PAN AMERICAN GAMES : SWIMMING : A Day Late, but U.S. More Than Gets Even

HAVANA —  U.S. swimmers saw Saturday as a day of redemption, for themselves and their compatriots in the Pan American Games. To accomplish this aim, they won every event of the swimming competition, thereby shaking off Friday’s disappointments. In addition, after three events, the swimmers had helped the United States overtake Cuba in the gold medal race, a goal they were supposed to have achieved the day before.

“Have we gone past Cuba? Great!” said Jane Skillman, who won the 800-meter freestyle and her third gold medal of the games. “Everyone’s going out of here pretty pleased. Being able to win here, with the way their fans go nuts, is just great.”

The gold medal haul from Saturday’s swimming, six, erased for the moment memories of Friday’s lost races and a relay disqualification. However, the day was not without its negative moments.

Because of a clerical error, Sean Killion was not entered in the 1,500-meter freestyle. Qualifying was scheduled for Saturday morning, and the United States filed an appeal seeking his reinstatement. Killion, who set a games record while winning the 400-meter freestyle Friday, was granted permission to swim in the preliminaries, but seven other countries threatened to pull out of the event in protest if Killion was allowed to swim.

After a scratch narrowed the field to eight, not including Killion, the preliminaries were canceled, and those eight swimmers advanced into the final. Killion will not be allowed to compete.

In a news release from Evie Dennis, head of the U.S. delegation, the problem with Killion’s entry was called “a minor technical mistake.”

Those Americans who did compete Saturday fared well, particularly Todd Pace, whose victory in the 50-meter freestyle gave the United States a 121-120 lead over Cuba in gold medals to that point.

Pace won in 22.60 seconds; Adam Schmitt of the United States was second in 22.61. The race was an extension of a rivalry that Pace and Schmitt had waged since they attended different high schools in Houston.

Pace won on the strength of a better start, which in a race that runs one length of the pool, pretty much wraps it up.

Schmitt was only one-hundreth of a second behind Pace, who said: “When you race the 50, you really don’t know who wins until you hit the wall and turn to look at the clock.”

Schmitt almost didn’t make it to the race on time after his swimsuit split. It has been a common occurrence here. U.S. male swimmers are wearing the latest in swimming technology--the paper suit, so called because it is paper-thin and an onion-skin type of paper is used in its manufacture. The suit is said to be fast but delicate, and it’s disposable, good for about two races.

Schmitt’s didn’t make it to his first race. “I went to sit down in the warm-up area before the race, and it went riiiiiip, right up the back,” Schmitt said.

He scrambled around and was able to borrow the suit of American backstroker Andy Gill.

Schmitt and Pace are in the unenviable position of being No. 4 and No. 5 in the world, respectively, in the 50-meter freestyle, but still three spots away from making the U.S. Olympic team. The world’s best freestyle sprinters are Americans, led by Matt Biondi, who has a time of 22.1, and Tom Jager, who has a 22.2. Schmitt has a best of 22.4, Pace a 22.5.

“It’s good and it’s bad,” Pace said. “If I make the Olympic team, that will give me all kinds of confidence to medal in the Olympics.”

The 1992 Olympic Games are on the minds of most swimmers here, so their performances take on extra significance.

Mark Dean won the 200 butterfly in 2:00.11, beating world-ranked Anthony Nesty of Surinam. Dean, who competed at UCLA, is coming back from summer surgery for a collapsed lung. “I think I’m back where I was,” he said.

Gill got his suit back and won his race, the 100-meter backstroke, in 55.79. Rudolfo Falcon of Cuba was second in 56.12.

Skillman, whose winning time in the 800-meter freestyle was 8:43.26, beat teammate Lisa Jacob of Mission Viejo, who was second in 8:51.36.

Lisa Summers swam a personal-best 2:16.88 in winning the 200-meter individual medley, and the U.S. women won the 400-meter medley relay in 4:12.51.