
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991                   TAG: 9104050046
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FEDERAL WAY, WASH.                                LENGTH: Medium

SWIMMERS CHOOSE POOL OVER SCHOOL

A tidal wave has hit college swimming because a new NCAA rule drastically changes the way athletes train. It already has swept away the collegiate career of Olympic champion Janet Evans, and coaches say more big names will follow.

For its part, the NCAA says the rule is being misinterpreted and that Evans and other world-class swimmers still can get in as much supervised pool time as they like.

But the impact is something different and has left college programs shaking.

"Isn't it sad that someone who is as excellent a student as Janet Evans has to quit college to pursue her dream?" Texas women's coach Mark Schubert said. "I think it borders on criminal."

Evans of Stanford and Melvin Stewart of Tennessee, both world record-holders, said Wednesday they were leaving school to better prepare for the 1992 Olympics.

Both blamed the new NCAA rule, which takes effect in August. They said it cuts a world-class swimmer's supervised workout schedule, which usually averages 35-40 hours per week.

But while college swimming officials criticized the new rule, the NCAA says the 20-hour rule is being misinterpreted.

"That limit refers to the amount of time that a coach can require a student athlete to participate in his or her sport," NCAA spokesman Jim Marchiony said Thursday. "Swimmers can voluntarily practice as many hours as they want."

Ted Tow, the NCAA's associate executive director, said he wasn't surprised that Evans and Stewart decided to leave school.

"It's not the function of college athletics to prepare world-class athletes," said Tow. "The function of collegiate athletics is just that - to function within the constraint of academics."

by CNB