Olympians, Newcomers Square Off

Many of the nation’s top swimmers, among them Olympic medal winners and rising stars, will begin competition today in the U.S. Swimming National Championships in Clovis, just northeast of Fresno.

The five-day meet at Clovis West High will determine the swimmers who will represent the United States next year in four international meets--the short course World Championships in Hong Kong, the World University Games in Spain, the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, and the Pan Pacific Games in Sydney, Australia.

Among the Olympians scheduled to compete are Jenny Thompson and Tom Dolan. Up-and-comers include Cristina Teuscher, Jamie Cail, Natalie Coughlin, Kristy Kowal, Megan Quann, Carly Geehr, Aaron Peirsol and Misty Hyman.

Amanda Beard of Irvine, a silver medalist at Atlanta in the 1996 Olympics, will be looking to regain some ground in the women’s 100- and 200-meter breaststroke after a string of poor performances last year.

She can expect a challenge from newcomer Stacianna Stitts, a teammate with the Irvine Novaquatics. Stitts is coming off an outstanding performance at the recent Goodwill Games in New York, where she finished first in the 100 breaststroke against China and Germany in dual-meet competition.

Also entered in the breaststroke is Anita Nall, former U.S. record-holder and ’92 Olympic silver medalist. Nall, who failed to make the ’96 Olympic team, has recently returned to competition.

The favorite in the men’s 200 backstroke is Lenny Krayzelburg, formerly of the Ukraine and now a U.S. citizen. He won at the World Swimming Championships last January in Perth, Australia, and holds the U.S. record in the event. Krayzelburg may be challenged by his USC workout partner, Brad Bridgewater, the ’96 Olympic champion.

The competition is also expected to help U.S. coaches find someone to replace Gary Hall Jr., the country’s top sprint freestyle swimmer who was provisionally suspended after testing positive for marijuana in May.

Bill Pilczuk and David Fox appear to be the leading contenders in the freestyle. At the World Championships, Pilczuk was able to accomplish something Hall had never been able to do: defeat Russian standout Alexander Popov in the 50-meter free, ending Popov’s eight-year winning streak. Pilczuk won in 22.29 seconds.

Fox, who ranks as the eighth-fastest swimmer in the world in the 50 free, finished a disappointing sixth at the Atlanta Olympics.

Hall, 23, was suspended by FINA, the international swimming federation, and is awaiting a hearing, U.S. Swimming spokesman Charlie Snyder said.

Hall and three other swimmers tested positive for marijuana during the Atlanta Olympics, but because the drug was not on the International Olympic Committee’s list of banned substances at the time, no action was taken.

FINA began testing for marijuana in 1997. In January, Scott Miller, a 1996 Olympic silver and bronze medal-winner, was suspended for two months when he tested positive for marijuana. This was Miller’s first offense, unlike Hall, who could face suspension for up to two years.