L.A. UNIVERSITY BEAT / WENDY WITHERSPOON : USC’s Women Swimmers Sporting New Look

Add a couple of world-class swimmers and one of the world’s most highly respected coaches to your college program and look what happens: You start breaking traditions.

That is what Mark Schubert has done in his first year as coach of the USC women’s swimming team.

And that is why USC defeated UCLA, 163-135, Saturday at UCLA for the first time in nine years.

The Trojans’ improvement starts with Schubert, coach of the 1992 U.S. Olympic women’s team. He took over the USC men’s program in ’92 after leading the Texas women’s team to two NCAA titles and two second-place finishes in four years. Schubert took over the USC women’s program as well after former USC women’s coach Darrell Fick resigned after last season.

In 23 years as a club and collegiate coach, Schubert has placed 22 swimmers on Olympic teams.

And the next Schubert-trained woman to reach an Olympic team figures to be USC’s KristineQuance.

Quance, the nation’s top recruit last spring, decided to attend USC when she heard that Schubert would be the coach. Quance set an American record in the 200-meter breaststroke in December at the U.S. Open, and has a good chance to become the Trojans’ first NCAA women’s champion since 1985.

Swimming in consecutive events Saturday, Quance won the 200 butterfly in 2:00.27 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:15.65.

Another talented swimmer for USC is sophomore Ayako Nakano, a 1992 Japanese Olympian from Yokohama, Japan. Nakano finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle at last season’s NCAA championships.

But perhaps the biggest name at USC these days is Janet Evans.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist is in her second season as a student assistant coach, and is training with the Trojan Swim Club while completing her undergraduate work in communication.

Having the likes of Schubert, Quance, Nakano and Evans hanging around the pool has charged the atmosphere at USC.

“The thing that has pleased me the most is the way the upperclassman have responded to the new people who have come in,” Schubert said. “The whole team has really raised itself to a new level, which has really been a lot of fun.”

USC next competes in the Pacific 10 Conference women’s swimming championships at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, beginning Thursday.

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This is how much tension there was at Saturday’s USC-UCLA dual meet:

Both schools’ top teams in the 400 medley relay were disqualified for false starts.

Perhaps adding to the tension was the fact that UCLA Coach Cindy McCullam Gallagher swam under Schubert’s guidance at the club level.

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The transition from high school to college is not always smooth for athletes, but it has been for Quance, who finally has time to relax. As a student at Granada Hills High, she had two hours of commuting time every day to swim practice at CLASS Aquatics in Calabasas.

Compared to that, college life is a breeze.

“Here, I just get up and walk over to the pool,” Quance said. “For me, it’s a lot easier, and I schedule my classes around my swimming and around my nap time. I just think it has worked out really well.”

But Quance does not exactly live a life of leisure.

“I think because of the improved conditions, she can put more time into some of the other areas that she wasn’t able (to do before),” Schubert said, “which I think is going to make a big difference in her speed.”

Notes

The Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team will compete in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference championships Wednesday through Friday. The Waves’ top individual performers are sophomore Jennifer Antimarino in the freestyle middle distances, sophomore Becky Early in the 200 individual medley, junior Ericka Keithly in the 100 and 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley, and junior Evy Wild in the sprints.

Rick McLaughlin, Loyola Marymount men’s volleyball coach, was named coach of the U.S. national boys’ volleyball team, the U.S. Volleyball Assn. announced last month. McLaughlin is in his second season as Loyola coach and is the younger brother of USC coach Jim McLaughlin.

Local golf teams are beginning their spring seasons. The Pepperdine men finished tied for sixth place with New Mexico in the Arizona Invitational last week, and sophomore Kevin Marsh tied for second place with Patrick Lee of Oklahoma and Marcus Jones of Texas at eight-under-par 205 on the 54-hole Randolph Park golf course. . . . Pepperdine will play in the 24-team Big Island Intercollegiate tournament at Waikoloa Kings golf course at Waikoloa, Hawaii, Saturday through Monday, along with UCLA and USC. . . . The USC and UCLA women’s golf teams will open the spring season in the Arizona Invitational at Tucson Monday and Tuesday.

Former UCLA gymnasts Scott Keswick and Chainey Umphrey placed second and fourth, respectively, and UCLA sophomore Steve McCain was 10th in the Winter Cup Feb. 4-5 at Colorado Springs to earn a spot on the U.S. national team. Keswick and Umphrey also qualified for the World Championships in April and the Goodwill Games in July.