A G’Day for Peirsol

Tony Altobelli

Aaron Peirsol is officially Sydney-bound.

The 17-year-old Newport Harbor High junior finished second in the

finals of the 200-meter backstroke event at the U.S. Olympic swimming

trials in Indianapolis on Monday, adding his name to the 2000 U.S.

Olympic team roster.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” Peirsol said. “I’ll probably be laying

in bed when it finally sinks in.”

Peirsol, who swam a finals time of 1 minute, 57.98 seconds, and finals

winner and world champion Lenny Krayzelburg of USC (1:57.31) will

represent the United States in the event at the upcoming Olympics in

Sydney, Australia.

Opening ceremonies for the Summer Games are Sept. 15.

“We’ve had Aaron for four years now and I’m telling you, this kid

likes to compete,” said Dave Salo, coach of Irvine Novaquatics. “It was a

good swim for him. Perhaps he might be a little tired from a long, busy

week here, but his main objective was to make the Olympic team and he did

just that.”

Swimming rivals over the last year, Peirsol and Krayzelburg will be

training together before they head “Down Under.”

“I just realized that I’ll be training with him,” Peirsol said. “I’m

sure I’ll learn a lot from training with him. He’s a good guy and it

should be very helpful.”

The race was Peirsol vs. Krayzelburg from the start, with the rest of

the pack battling for third place. In fact, the third-place finisher,

Brian Walters, was nearly two seconds slower than Peirsol.

Krayzelburg was ahead of Peirsol by three-tenths of a second after the

first 50 meters. His lead was the same after 100 meters before the

three-time CIF-Southern Section champion cut the advantage to just

two-tenths after 150 meters.

“He hung tough with Lenny in each split,” Salo said. “We told Aaron to

swim for first place, not just to qualify.”

Finally, in the final 50 meters, it was Krayzelburg who put on a late

burst to prevail.

Peirsol was happy to put this part of his journey behind him.

“The trials are so mentally draining, I almost have to believe that

the Olympics are going to be easier than this,” he said with a laugh.

“I’m so mentally exhausted. My whole goal was to make the Olympic team

and now that I have, everything else is going to be fun, fun, fun. Once

you’re there, the rest is just icing on the cake.”

The last Newport Harbor swimmer to appear in the Olympics was John

Moffet at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Moffet, then the world breaststroke

champion, took fifth place in the 100-meter event after tearing a leg

muscle in the preliminaries.

Peirsol was just a year old at the time.

Moffet said the best piece of advice he could hand down to Peirsol is

to simply enjoy the moment.

“It’s great to see another Newport Harbor swimmer make it to the

Olympics,” Moffet said. “The best thing I could tell Aaron is to soak

everything in, let the excitement and pressure work toward his benefit,

and have a great time.”

And that’s exactly what Peirsol plans to do.

“It’s going to be such a blast,” he said, talking like a typical

17-year-old. “I’d love to check out the beaches and do some sightseeing

when I’m out there.

“I’m really looking forward to the opening ceremonies and being a part

of that. I wonder who is going to carry the flag for us.”

The victory also cements travel plans for Peirsol’s parents, Tim and

Wella, and his sister, Hayley, who were poolside Monday in Indianapolis.

So with the goal of making the team achieved, Peirsol will begin

training in Pasadena. Then, he’s off to Sydney.

“No more home-cooked meals for me for a while,” Peirsol said. “Plus,

only three nights in my own bed before starting my training. I’m going to

miss my bed.”