Peirsol finds silver lining

Tony Altobelli

Only an Olympic record-setting performance from world champion Lenny

Krayzelburg prevented Aaron Peirsol from shocking the swimming world

Thursday at the Olympic Games in Sydney.

The 17-year-old Newport Harbor High standout won the silver medal in

the men’s 200-meter backstroke finals with a time of 1 minute, 57.35

seconds, just .59 seconds off the 1:56.76 pace set by gold-medalist

Krayzelburg.

“We’re still in a daze,” Aaron’s father, Tim, said by telephone from

Sydney. “Every day out here is better than the next. After last night, I

think we’re starting to fall back to Earth.”

It was the second-fastest time ever posted by Peirsol in his young

career, which will surely be paved with gold in future Olympics.

“They have this cheer in Australia where 18,000 people in the swim

complex start yelling, ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!’ ” Tim

Peirsol said. “So before Aaron’s final, I started yelling, ‘Aaron Aaron

Aaron! Gold Gold Gold!,’ The people around us must have thought I was

some crazy, psycho dad or something.”

Peirsol got off to a slow start in the finals as he found himself

trailing not only Krayzelburg, but Australian Matt Welsh as well, after

100 meters.

Finally, Peirsol’s patented kick came into play as he pulled ahead of

Welsh and started to reel in Krayzelburg.

With 50 meters to go, Krayzelburg said he felt his arms start to

stiffen and cramp up, but kept his focus and marched on.

Both Peirsol and Welsh swam a faster final 50 meters, but

Krayzelburg’s lead proved too large to overcome.

“It actually was a less emotional situation than at the Olympic

trials,” Tim Peirsol said. “We all were just glad to be there, and

throughout the events we learned that it was OK to get a bronze and it’s

OK to get a silver.”

Peirsol’s parents, Tim and Wella, along with sister Hayley, were

finally able to see Aaron following a race for the first time in more

than two weeks.

“We called him the morning before the race and told him how proud we

all were and that we loved him very much,” Tim Peirsol said.

Unfortunately, Aaron doesn’t notch a podium finish in all events.

“We had to wait for him to take his drug test before we could see him.

He took so long to finally fill up his cup, he was the last one out and

the visiting time had expired,” Tim Peirsol said. “We had to get a

special injunction from the Olympic Committee just to see him. We got to

see his medal and hold it. He’s very happy with how things turned out.”

In a country enthralled with swimming, the Peirsols could not have had

a better atmosphere for Olympic competition.

“These people are ravenous when it comes to swimming,” Tim Peirsol

said. “In the U.S., kids talk about Michael Jordan and how many points he

scored. But over here, the kids talk about their swimmers and the times

they swam in various events. It’s unbelievable the type of support that

goes on over here.”

So what’s next for Aaron and his family?

“He’s going into his junior year of high school, which is such an

academically pivotal year in school,” Aaron’s father said. “It’s going to

be up to us to make sure Aaron tries to get back into a semi-normal life

as soon as possible. It’s really a life-changing experience, but he’s a

great kid and I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

Peirsol became more than just Newport Harbor’s top swimmer in the

Senior Nationals on March 29, when he swam a 1:57.03, showing the country

that he deserved to included on the short list of world-class swimmers.

After helping the Sailors to a third-place finish in the CIF Division

I finals in the spring, the three-time CIF champion took on Krayzelburg

in various locations and it was apparent that this event was a two-man

show.

At the Speedo Challenge in Irvine on June 2, Peirsol hung tough with

the 24-year-old Ukraine-born swimmer from USC and finished second by one

second.

Perhaps two events too early, Peirsol shocked the swimming world when

he defeated Krayzelburg at the Janet Evans Invitational in Krayzelburg’s

own pool at USC.

Peirsol said after the race that it wasn’t a big deal, but the numbers

don’t lie.

It was the first loss for Krayzelburg in the 200 in four years. The

kid had finally caught him.

Peirsol’s biggest challenge came at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials,

where each race multiplied in intensity and pressure.

After a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke finals,

Peirsol focused on a top-two finish in the 200 and a trip to Sydney.

Following a strong 1:58.90 in the preliminaries, Peirsol swam a

1:57.93 in the semifinals, the best time posted at the trials at that

point.

But the world record holder came through in the finals, edging out

Peirsol with a 1:57.31. Peirsol qualified for the Olympic team by placing

second with a 1:57.98.

“It’s been great hearing from other people all the things you want to

hear about your kid,” Tim Peirsol said. “We’re very proud of the way

Aaron’s handled all of this.”