SWIMMING / THERESA MUNOZ : No-Touch Rule Adds Right Touch

Backstroke has developed into the most exciting stroke because of the element of quiet--no splashing--suspense at the start and after each turn. Since the swimmers are submerged, kicking dolphin-style on their backs with their arms extended, no one can tell who will rise to the surface first or which swimmer will pop up farthest ahead.

Since underwater swimming is faster, backstroke times are rapidly improving. And because of the no-touch rule, passed in January at the World Championships, the decreases will be even more dramatic.

Under the new rule, backstrokers are no longer required to touch the wall of the pool with a hand on their turns. Instead, they can swivel their legs 180 degrees and push off with their feet.

As a result, U.S. Swimming has lowered the time standards for the U.S. Olympic trials by half a second per turn in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke and the 400-meter individual medley, which includes backstroke.

Already, Spain’s Martin Zubero has demonstrated the advantage of the new turn. In a sanctioned time trial, he smashed the world short-course (25-meter pool) record in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1 minute 52.51 seconds--3.42 seconds faster than the mark set in March by Canada’s Mark Tewksbury.

As the 1992 Olympic Games draw closer, the state of American distance freestyle swimming becomes more of a concern.

Not only were American men shut out of the top five spots in the 200-, 400-, and 1,500-meter freestyle events at the World Championships, only two of the eight finalists in the NCAA Division I men’s 500-yard freestyle were American.

Poland produced three finalists, including 1-2 finishers Artur Wojdat and Mariusz Podkoscielny, and Romania, Saipan and the Netherlands were also represented.

Since the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays were added to collegiate swimming in 1989, sprinters are at a premium because they can score in as many as three individual events and four relays. In contrast, distance swimmers are limited to the 500 and 1,650 freestyle and possibly the 800 freestyle relay and/or the 200 freestyle.

Consequently, coaches recruit more sprinters, and American teen-age swimmers gravitate toward sprint freestyle.

At the same time, American colleges are developing foreign distance freestyle talent only to have it turn around and beat the United States in international competition.

“It is real distressing to me,” said Bud McAllister, who is training several outstanding young distance swimmers at his Calabasas-based CLASS club.

“Our (U.S.) distance program is weak right now, except for Janet (Evans). As it is now, she is our only chance at a medal unless there are some big time drops, which there might be, before Barcelona.”

Swimming Notes

Bud McAllister, who coached Janet Evans at the Fullerton Aquatic Club before her triple gold-medal performance in the 1988 Olympic Games, received scoring from Chris Baskett, 18, of Malibu; Nikki Hudson, 16, of Santa Monica, and Alexis Larsen, 14, of Pacific Palisades in distance freestyle events at the Spring Nationals April 3-7 in Federal Way, Wash. . . . Hudson and Larsen were recently added to the 32-member U.S. contingent that will travel to Honolulu for a distance freestyle and individual medley camp June 1-6 with swimmers from Australia and Canada. . . . McAllister will direct the U.S. men’s group and Alex Braunfeld of the Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta will coach the women. . . . Other Southland swimmers selected for the camp are Kristine Quance, CLASS; UCLA-bound Natalie Norberg, Industry Hills; Chad Carvin, Saddleback Valley Aquatics; Chad Hundeby, Irvine; Kari Lyderson, Encinitas YMCA, and Marilyn Peck, San Diego.

A similar camp for swimmers 16 and under from the United States and the Soviet Union will be held June 15-23 at Princeton, N.J. Nicole Rutkowski of CLASS and Steve Warner of Team Santa Monica will represent Southern California on the 16-member American team. . . . Six Southland members of the U.S. National Junior team will compete against swimmers from Canada, Japan, China and Australia in the Canada Cup May 24-26 in Vancouver, Canada: Lyderson, Lisa Jacob and Natasha Kohne of Mission Viejo, Stanford-bound Dan Kanner of Rose Bowl Aquatics, USC-bound Marc Fairon of North Coast Aquatics in San Diego and Stanford-bound Brian Jacobson of Bellflower Aquatics.

Eric Diehl’s outstanding performances in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle at the Southern Section meet last weekend in Long Beach would have placed him fifth (1:35.55) and sixth (4:20.86), respectively, in the 1991 NCAA Division I Championships. . . . Diehl, 17, of Mission Viejo, earned a berth on the Pan American Games team with two fourth-place finishes at the Spring Nationals. Although Diehl has committed to attend Stanford, he will not enroll until the fall of 1992, after the Barcelona Games.

Other outstanding times in the Southern Section meet were posted by Arizona-bound Amy Ward, Trabuco Hills, 1:48.85 in the 200 freestyle, which would have taken sixth at the NCAA meet; USC-bound Jason Stelle, Agoura, 49.62 in the 100 backstroke, 14th in the NCAA; Carvin, Laguna Hills, 4:22.08 in the 500 freestyle, 14th in the NCAA; Michelle Perry, El Toro, 1:03.78 in the 100 breaststroke, 15th in the NCAA, and Hart freshman Lindsay Gassner, 50.77 in the 100 freestyle, 19th in the NCAA.

Baskett, Hudson, Larsen, Carvin, Lyderson, Jacobson, Stelle, and Gassner were added to the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival teams, which will compete at USC July 12-14, along with eight Southern Californians--Meredith Booker, Team Santa Monica; Steven West, Jessica Tong and Scott Wester, Golden West Swim; Ali Ladeda, Kevin Henricks and Shona Baillie, Mission Viejo, and Randy Hartley, Santa Maria Swim. . . . In signing Baskett, Jacobson, Kanner and Diehl to letters of intent, Stanford men’s Coach Skip Kenney cleaned up in Southern California. Now all the Cardinal needs is to have swimming points separated from diving points in the NCAA title meet. Without its 66 points from diving, four-time champion Texas would have lost to Stanford, 420-410.

In a move that will protect the sport from potential budget cuts, USC has established an endowment fund for the Peter Daland Head Swim Coach position. The interest from the endowment will fund the annual salary for the Trojan men’s swim coach. USC hopes to raise $500,000 in the next four years. . . . Daland, 70, will begin his 35th year as coach next fall. He is a six-time national coach of the year and a two-time Olympic coach. . . . Royce Sharp, Spring Nationals 200-meter backstroke champion, committed to Michigan, but like Diehl he will not start school until after the ’92 Games. . . . Jill Sterkel, Texas’ sixth-year assistant women’s coach and a 1976 Olympic gold medalist, was hired as women’s swim coach at Indiana.

Monte Nitzkowski of Huntington Beach and Keenna Rothhammer of Ventura were inducted into the Alamo International Swimming Hall of Fame last weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Nitzkowski coached the 1984 U.S. Olympic water polo team to a silver medal, and Rothhammer was the 1972 Olympic gold medalist in the 800-meter freestyle. . . . Jane Fauntz Manske and Clyde Swendsen were honored posthumously with pioneer awards. Manske, formerly of San Marcos, was the 1932 U.S. Olympic springboard diving bronze medalist. Swendsen, formerly of Ventura, coached the 1936 U.S. Olympic water polo team.

When Santa Barbara’s Brian Alderman won the 100-meter butterfly in 53.50 seconds at the Spring Nationals, he became the fourth swimmer to hold the No. 1 U.S. ranking since Matt Biondi in 1988. Wade King took over the top spot in ‘89, and Cal’s Mark Henderson was No. 1 last year. No men’s event is more competitive than the 100 butterfly among Americans.

Upcoming: The first major invitational swim meet in the United States this summer will be the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions June 20-23 . . . World champion Holland is the favorite to win the FINA World Cup Water Polo Women’s Championship June 25-30 in Long Beach. The United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Japan and New Zealand are also in the field. Maureen O’Toole-Mendoza, a 14-time All-American from Long Beach, is coming out of a brief retirement to compete.