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Friday, July 17, 1998
Former Olympic swimmer reaches out to youngsters
By SUZANNE HALLIBURTON / Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN -- Sometime Saturday afternoon, Shaun Jordan will ask
pre-teens and teen-agers to take a break from the cannonballs
and belly flops that will dominate the Barton Springs Diving Championships
and learn a thing or two about the fundamentals of swimming.
The two-time Olympian plans to talk about how his sport can
teach a youngster accountability and responsibility and how it
can turn a misdirected teen-ager like he was 12 years ago into
a national champion.
Just in case interest wanes during his clinic, the charismatic
Jordan can play an impressive game of show-and-tell by pulling
out the Olympic gold medal he won in 1992 in Barcelona as a member
of the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team.
"The gold medal I won in Seoul (South Korea, 1988) was
really brittle," said Jordan, 30, who won three individual
NCAA titles while leading the University of Texas to four straight
national championships from 1988-1991.
"The one I won in Barcelona has been handled by 10,000
kids. It's been dropped and it's been dented, but it's still in
good shape."
On Saturday and for the next two Tuesdays at Barton Springs,
Jordan will present his Gold Medal Swimming Clinic to area kids,
the ones whose parents are not members of a country club, the
ones he says his sport, "historically ignores." A number
of campers with the Austin Sunshine Camp will be on hand for the
Tuesday sessions. Admission is free.
The clinic is a part of Austin Mayor Kirk Watson's program
called "Austin's Promise, The Alliance for Youth." there
is a summit planned in September to talk about how to better serve
the city's young people. Jordan, rather than talking about what
he will do, is one of the first to actually do something.
He is hoping other athletes with similar credentials will follow
his lead. Aside from donating his time for the clinics, Jordan
already has lined up UT's Gregory Gym for a 10-week, after-school
program this fall that will allow some of the area's former Olympic
swimmers to mentor kids interested in learning about the sport.
Craig Biddle, a corporate development manager for the San Antonio
Spurs who is in charge of the Barton Springs Diving Championships,
said proceeds from his event will help fund Jordan's upcoming
clinics and mentoring programs.
Watson, too, is encouraging other big-time athletes who live
in Austin to follow Jordan's example.
"I envision lots of mentoring programs," Watson said.
"We have volleyball players living here and track athletes,
cyclists, golfers, you name it. I'm willing to send out a call
to anyone who can help us to call me and we'll help coordinate
and plan the events. I see that as one of the best public services
I could provide.
"Shaun is setting a wonderful example," Watson said.
"A guy like Shaun, with all his talent and charisma, is willing
to touch people and donate his time."
The clinics, which Jordan has put on since 1995 with his partner,
three- time Olympian Tom Jager, also have gotten Jordan back into
competitive waters.
He'll conduct Saturday's clinic between the preliminaries and
finals of the Texas Senior Circuit Championships at the Jamail
Texas Swim Center. He plans to compete at the U.S. Summer Nationals
next month in Clovis, Calif.
But the clinics are his passion.
"I dig this stuff," Jordan said. "I come back
from my clinics all juiced. It's not completely altruistic on
my part. I get something out of it, too."
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Distributed by The Associated Press
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