SWIMMING / THERESA MUNOZ : Money Lures Only Elite From the NCAA

In the last 13 months, the earning potential in swimming has increased to the point where the NCAA has prematurely lost three of its best athletes--1992 Olympians Janet Evans, Melvin Stewart and Summer Sanders.

They forfeited college eligibility to pursue endorsements and accept funding from the U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Swimming Inc.

Of the three, Evans’ decision had the least to do with money. Her primary motivation was to change coaches, from Stanford’s Richard Quick to Mark Schubert, who was lured away from the University of Texas last week by USC.

Stewart, who left Tennessee one year early, also changed coaches, secured several product endorsements and made himself available for what would have been the richest payday in swimming.

He was unable to collect the $100,000 prize, however, because he did not break his 200-meter butterfly world record while competing for Las Vegas Gold. In September, Stewart returned to training sessions with Tennessee Coach John Trembley, although he could not compete for the Volunteers.

Sanders, who announced her decision May 12, has remained in classes at Stanford and plans to continue training with Quick and her Sacramento-based club coach, Mike Hastings of California Capital.

The timing of her announcement is geared toward the small window of time, once every four years, in which swimming gains the spotlight.

In the next 16 weeks leading up to and continuing through the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Sanders’ smiling face could become recognized throughout the world.

But Quick doesn’t believe Sanders’ move is indicative of a trend that could ruin college swimming.

“More money is available, but it’s limited to a few personalities,” Quick said. “It’s not something that will significantly affect college swimming, and it’s something that will only happen every four years.”

Quick also could have lost world record-holder Jenny Thompson, but so far the freshman from Dover, N.H., has made it clear that she wants to complete her collegiate career.

In contrast, Anita Nall, the teen-ager Thompson posed with for the April cover of Swimming World, will not swim at all at the college level.

Nall, a high school sophomore from Towson, Md., who broke the 200 breaststroke world record twice at the Olympic trials, already has accepted endorsement money, world record incentives and stipends from the USOC and U.S. Swimming and is ineligible to compete in college.

But even those who are staying within NCAA guidelines are benefiting from the influx of money to the sport.

Because she is ranked in the top five in the world, Granada Hills High junior Kristine Quance receives $1,500 per month from U.S. Swimming to cover training costs, including coaching fees, meet expenses and gas to and from her CLASS Aquatics practice sessions.

UCLA senior Andrea Cecchi tuned up for the Olympic Games with an outstanding performance in the NCAA championships.

Cecchi, who will compete in the Olympics for his native Italy, won two events to lead the Bruins to a surprising third-place finish.

Their performance was nothing short of remarkable, following a 5-4 dual meet record.

The Bruins’ 310-point total trailed the perennial top teams, Texas (356) and Stanford (632), but outscored fourth-place California by 45 points.

Cecchi defended his 100-yard breaststroke title with a 53.33-second time and downed junior teammate Greg Schaffer for the 200 breaststroke crown in 1:56.27.

Schaffer, who had never scored in an NCAA championship, also took fifth in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 individual medley.

The Bruins got big points in the relays with the team of Michael Picotte, Byron Davis, Chris Mann and Brian Kurza taking second in the 200 freestyle relay and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay. Mark Thompson, Cecchi, Davis and Kurza combined for runner-up honors in the 400 medley relay.

“We really put it together,” UCLA Coach Ron Ballatore said of his team’s seven school records and 13 personal-best times.

“It was really nice to beat the Pac-10, except for Stanford, and nice to beat our old rival (USC). They really hammered us in the dual meet (165-76). You tend to remember those things.”

Because of his duties as head coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s team and his commitment to Janet Evans, Erika Hansen and Lawrence Frostad--the Austin, Tex., based swimmers whom he put on the team--Schubert will not take over at USC until August.

He and his wife, Joke (pronounced Yok-a) plan to live in Agoura Hills. Their daughters, Tatum, 15, and Leigh, 14, are expected to swim for Coach Bud McAllister at CLASS Aquatics.

McAllister, a former assistant of Schubert’s at Mission Viejo, was Tatum’s and Leigh’s first coach. Tatum has reached the junior national level and Leigh is approaching it.

Swimming Notes

The U.S. Olympic team competed last weekend for the first time since the trials in the Alamo Challenge at the International Swimming Hall of Fame pool in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. None of the times were fast, nor were they expected to be because the swimmers have seven more weeks of rigorous training before they rest for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. . . . All drug tests at the U.S. Olympic trials were negative. . . . None of the winning times from the Canadian Olympic trials, May 13-17 at Montreal, were as fast as the winning times from the U.S. trials. . . . USC senior Gary Anderson made the Canadian Olympic team in the 200 individual medley, and Trojan freshman-to-be Mike Mason of San Marino High, earned a berth on the Canadian team in the 200 breaststroke. . . . Jim Wells of Peddie (N.J.) Aquatics and Brian Craft from Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy signed national letters of intent with USC. . . . Freestyler Lisa Jacob of the Mission Viejo Nadadores signed with NCAA champion Stanford, as did Canadian Olympian Allison Higson. . . . UCLA women’s Coach Cyndi Gallagher signed sprinter Richelle Depold of Scotia, N.Y., butterflyer Annetee Salameen of Ann Arbor, Mich., and medleyist Genii Masluch of Livermore, Calif. Depold holds the fastest high school time in the nation in the 50-yard freestyle: 23.31. . . . Bruin men’s Coach Ron Ballatore signed distance freestyler Steve Warner of Santa Monica and sprinter Brian Matthews of Tiburon, Calif. Wyatt Russo, who signed last fall with UCLA, set a national record in the 200-yard individual medley (1:47.59) and has the fastest 100 backstroke time among high school swimmers this season: 49.19. . . . Sprinter Felipe Delgado of the Mission Viejo Nadadores signed with Arizona State, and Nadadore breaststroker Kevin Henricks was signed by Auburn. . . . Tennessee signed one of the best men’s classes in the country, led by sprinter Andrew Baildon, 20, who recently made his second Australian Olympic team. Florida prep school sprint champion Ricky Busquet, a member of the Puerto Rican Olympic team, is also among the recruits, as is butterflyer Joey Rossetti, a transfer from California, and former USC distance freestyler Lars Jorgensen, a 1988 Olympian from San Diego who will have just one season of eligibility.

Second-year Florida men’s Coach Skip Foster, the 1991 NCAA coach of the year, asked to move back to his assistant position. Among the candidates to replace him is Chris Martin, the first African-American on a U.S. Olympic coaching staff. Martin recently left his coaching position at the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J. . . . Jill Sterkel is an obvious choice to replace Schubert at Texas. Sterkel, a four-time Olympian and head coach at Indiana, was an assistant coach at Texas until last fall. Dartmouth Coach Betsy Mitchell, a two-time Olympian, is also a candidate. . . . Kari Lyderson of Encinitas won the 500-yard freestyle (4:51.29) and the 1,650 freestyle (16:35.95) at the YMCA national championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Upcoming: Today-Saturday: German Olympic trials; June 11-14: Charlotte (N.C.) Ultra-Swim, includes a large portion of the U.S. Olympic team; June 17-21: U.S. Olympic diving trials, Indianapolis; July 2-5: Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions, last meet in the United States for members of the U.S. Olympic team.