For an Olympic champion, this is a golden state

In the mid-1960s, an American family was vacationing in Greece, and no one was more impressed than the clan’s 10-year-old boy. Soaking up the history of the land where the Olympics began, he boldly told his mother that one day he too would compete in the Games.

A decade later, swimmer John Naber not only made good on his word, but he also came away from the 1976 Games in Montreal with five medals -- four golds and a silver -- having broken four world records.

Naber, 48, is in Greece again this week, as a corporate consultant and spokesman at the Athens Games. He won’t have much chance for sightseeing, but when he returns home to Pasadena, the author and motivational guru will spend his free time with his wife, Carolyn, and 21-year-old daughter, Christina.

Night in Old Town

One of the ingredients the Olympics left with me is a competitive streak, and on a Friday night, that usually means playing cards with friends. If we have five or more, the game is whist; otherwise, it’s bridge.

We play at our favorite restaurant, Cafe Santorini in Pasadena, which has the best balcony in Old Town. We order dinner, play cards until the food comes, then play some more afterward. On weekends the restaurant usually has a full house, but they don’t push us to clear the table. They are really good at lamb and Greek dishes, but I recently discovered their risotto with chicken, and they season it with jalapenos. Being a Southern California boy, I like it spicy.

After dinner the other night we each ordered a different dessert, and then my daughter said, ‘Take one bite and rotate.’ We all know each other well, so we don’t mind the cooties. After that, we’ll walk over to Laemmle’s One Colorado and take in a movie.

First: exercise

Saturday morning, it’s good to start with some exercise. This is pretty extreme, but last year I rode a Jet Ski from Long Beach to Catalina and back. It took two hours each way, and we stopped an hour for lunch in Avalon. I couldn’t move for three days. We don’t have a pool, but I was on the board at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center; that’s close by.

One of our favorite places to have lunch is also at One Colorado: Il Fornaio. They have really good fresh breads, which we dip in olive oil and vinegar. My wife and I are big iced tea drinkers, so we bring in our own insulated cups that are so big we call them bladder busters. That way the waiter or waitress doesn’t have to keep refilling them. Later that night, we might have a boys’ night out, and we’ll grill a tri tip with some onions in our backyard and then go out and see a shoot-’em-up film.

To church

On Sunday, it’s definitely church. We go to the 11 a.m. service at Lake Avenue Congregational, which is perfect for us because we like to sleep late on weekends. We’ll just grab a cup of coffee beforehand, because we like to make a big deal out of lunch. We like the Crocodile Cafe on Lake Avenue, and they have the best iced tea and what I think is the ultimate in California cuisine. They have really good pasta dishes, like the spicy Cajun shrimp with angel hair pasta and the tequila lamb fettuccine.

In the evening, we’ll wind down by staying in and maybe watching a chick flick. My daughter works for Blockbuster, so we get the pick of the DVDs.