ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 1, 1996 TAG: 9607010043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEITH POMPEY STAFF WRITER
KAMAL MASUD, a Pakistani swimmer, is enjoying his time in Roanoke developing new friendships while training for the Olympics.
Two children quietly sit at Countryside watching a group of swimmers practice. Suddenly, Kamal Masud dives into the pool.
``Who is that guy? I never saw him before,'' one youngster says to the other.
``I don't know,'' his friend replies. ``He must be new.''
They both become quiet. Dead quiet. Their eyes are glued to Masud. All 6 feet 1, 170 pounds of him.
After asking around, they learn he's the greatest swimmer in Pakistan's history. The 17-year-old owns national records in the 100-meter butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 1,500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley.
This summer Masud, a senior at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy, has something better to do than breaking records.
He's in Roanoke training with Carter Athletic Center swim coach Jay Yarid for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Later this month, he'll become the first Pakistani swimmer to compete in the Games.
He earned that honor by qualifying in the 100 butterfly (58.6 seconds) and the 200 freestyle (1:59.5) at the Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, during April.
So what are his chances of winning a medal?
``Not that good,'' Yarid said. ``We have a stack of Americans that can go six or seven deep in some events and still be ranked 15th in the world. He wouldn't have a chance comparing with our best athletes.
``But he's only been exposed to United States training methods for about a year now. Other countries that are not as progressive as we are, he would fare well. If you would take him to a Middle East country, where swimming is not real popular, he is far ahead of any swimmer that I have seen coming from the same background and circumstances.''
Masud's times are at least three seconds slower than those of his American opponents. That's why he's using this Olympics as a stepping stone. His eyes are set on the 2000 Games.
``My main goal this year is to try to get my 100 butterfly down to 57 seconds,'' Masud said. ``If I can do that I will be pretty pleased.''
But he hopes to leave Roanoke with more than faster times. Masud wants lasting relationships.
He enjoys living with the John Adams family on Brahma Road. He's also become buddies with training partners Trent Johnson, Steve Cromer and Doug Heartman.
``I have enjoyed training with them,'' Masud said. ``It has been a great experience just going out with a bunch of guys. ... They have offered for me to go out with them and I have said, `Fine. I will go with you guys.' It has been a step worth taking because we are friends.''
Five years ago, however, he never expected to live in America.
Masud grew up in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. When Masud was 3, his father, Salman, taught him how to swim. At first, Kamal didn't take it seriously. He was more interested in his country's national sport, field hockey.
``No one really followed swimming,'' he said. ``That's because trying to get into pools in Pakistan is fairly difficult. Unlike field hockey, you have to be able to afford to get into a pool. Once you are able to do that, you can take it on your own. But that's the first step.''
His first step was at the age of 11. It wasn't easy.
Masud didn't have a coach. He traveled 25 minutes to practice. And when he arrived, Masud found the pool was overcrowded.
``The pool I trained in was basically a recreational pool,'' he said. ``We don't have pools built to specifically train people as swimmers and hunt out new talent.''
Masud didn't give up. At 14, he broke the national record in the 100 butterfly. For the next two years, he went undefeated.
That's when Pakistan's Sport Authority let him transfer to Mercersburg.``I was real excited,'' he said. ``I was told that it has a very good swim team and academic program. So I wanted to go to a place where I could do both.''
It was there that Masud was introduced to Yarid, a Mercersburg alumnus.
After talking it over, Masud decided to train under Yarid this summer. And the rest is history.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. 1. Kamal Masud, the greatest swimmerby CNBin Pakistan's history, will compete in the 100 butterfly and 200
freestyle at the Olympics later this month. 2. Kamal Masud is
training at Roanoke's Countryside pool for the Olympics. He owns
seven national records for Pakistan. color.