THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408050274
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
IF THE FAMILY that plays together, stays together, Mark and Stephan LaBoccetta should be inseparable.
The brothers travel around the country together to compete in swimming and mountain biking.
However, off the trail and out of the pool, their path splits.
``Mark goes fishing; Stephan plays the guitar,'' their mother Diane LaBocetta said.
Mark, 16, a rising senior at Cape Henry Collegiate, started mountain biking three years ago. His younger brother, Stephan, 14, goes to school next door at First Colonial High School, a large school that's worlds away in many ways, despite the proximity.
``Stephan likes being a little fish in a big pond,'' mom said.
``I went to private school in the eighth grade. It wasn't really me,'' Stephan said.
In 1991, Diane and Eddie LaBoccetta took their older son to Norfolk, where he caught a ride to Massanutten Mountain for his first bike race.
``When we picked him up, he was scratched, bruised and bleeding,'' she said. ``We were horrified. Of course, he loved it. The biking bug bit him and he's been racing ever since.''
Stephan hopped on his mountain bike a year later. Now the brothers travel to races together.
Mark has won the junior men's division state championship in mountain biking the last two years. The 1994 five-race series ended with Mark again crossing the finish line first.
``I like the downhill, that's what I specialize in,'' Mark said.
Stephan finished fifth overall in the same division.
Junior men's bikers are 12-18 years old.
The brothers went to Stowe, Vt., in June of last year for the mountain biking Grundig-Jeep Nationals. It rained for two days during the three-day competition. Mud-soaked Mark finished in the top 15.
Last month, Mark finished ninth in the downhill event at the National Offroad Bicycle Racing Association in Bellaire, Mich.
``I am proud of that because there were 10,000 bikers in Michigan and so many from the West Coast. It's pretty hard for an East Coast biker to place in that competition,'' Mark said.
Although they have climbed to great heights in biking, it is in the swimming pool where the LaBoccettas expend serious competitive energy.
The two sports are different. Biking complements their swimming; it adds valuable cross-training to the discipline and hard work of swimming practice. It adds an important intangible too.
``Biking is fun. The boys love the camaraderie of biking. They love being outdoors. It is not fun to train in swimming, to swim 5,000-6,000 yards takes commitment,'' said their mother.
The LaBoccettas started swimming in Italy in 1984. They lived in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia and swam for a local club there.
The LaBoccetta boys have been around. They were born in Johannesburg, South Africa, where their parents met.
They now swim for the TIDE club, under the tutelage of Russian-born coach Alex Boutov. He emphasizes stroke-technique, learning all four strokes - breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke and freestyle - and mastering them in practice and in competition. The brothers have spent three years under Boutov's rigorous regimen learning the strokes.
Citing their varied interests as the only obstacle to their swimming success, Boutov said: ``With the time they have to dedicate to training, they're successful. Both have progressed in their techniques since they've been here.''
Mark demonstrated how much he has progressed on the final weekend in July. At the state championships in Richmond, Mark finished third in the 200-meter backstroke and fifth in the 100-meter backstroke.
Different strokes for different folks surface in the water too, of course. Mark prefers the backstroke. Stephan's a freestyler.
Stephan likes shorter distances - the 50 and 100 freestyle.
The younger brother may feel the need to step out of his older brother's footsteps and into his own light. It could be stage lights.
``Biking and swimming are fun, but I'm more interested in music,'' said Stephan who took up the guitar last year and is forming a band.
``I'm not going to to go as far in sports as I can in something else.''
The swimming, biking, well-traveled LaBoccetta brothers share one other passion - they are Deadheads. They went to Washington, D.C., in July to attend the RFK Stadium concert of Jerry Garcia and his legendary band, the Grateful Dead.
And did the beginning guitarist learn anything by watching the old pro?
``I wish,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Mark LaBoccetta, 16, right, has won the junior men's division state
championship in mountain biking the last two years. His brother
Stephan, 14, finished fifth overall in the same division. Both also
swim competitively for the TIDE club, under the tutelage of
Russian-born coach Alex Boutov.
by CNB