NCAA DIVISION II SWIM CHAMPIONSHIPS : Breedy Breezes to 100 Victory in Record Time

By MIKE HISERMAN

March 11, 1988 12 AM PT

<i> Times Staff Writer </i>

AMHERST, N. Y. — Chris Breedy is on her way to the Olympic trials.

Breedy cleared what had been her largest hurdle Thursday night--an Olympic trials qualifying time.

The 28-year-old Cal State Northridge junior won the 100-yard backstroke in a Division II meet record of 57.34 seconds at the New York State University, Buffalo, natatorium. In the process, she unseated teammate Stacy Mettam, the two-time defending champion.

Mettam, who is also a junior, finished third in 58.51. Carol Eisele was 11th in 1:00.44, giving Northridge 30 points in the event. Deborah Williams from Navy was second.

Northridge has all but clinched the women’s title with two days of competition remaining, posting a 76-point advantage over second-place Tampa (Fla.).

Tampa, which finished third last year, was expected to challenge Northridge for the title.

It also was supposed to push--and possibly defeat--Northridge in the 800-yard freestyle relay on Thursday.

Neither happened.

Northridge’s team of Jeanna Giessinger, Jude Kylander, Lisa Dial and Michelle Sulak routed Tampa by more than four seconds in a meet-record time of 7:31.60.

The old standard, also held by Northridge, was 7:35.24.

“We really wiped it out,” said Northridge Coach Pete Accardy, who on Wednesday had been told by Tampa Coach Ed Brennan that the opposite might happen.

“They said they were 10 seconds faster than what showed on paper,” CSUN assistant Joe Weiss said. “Pete just looked at him and said, ‘We’ll race you.’ ”

That boast was a bust, but Northridge’s claim to having the strongest Division II women’s team in history is looking more accurate every day.

What other teams have swimmers who walk away with long faces after winning national championships?

Tina Schnare won the 100-yard breaststroke rather handily in 1:05.30, but the time was not fast enough to suit either her or Accardy.

“My turns were bad,” Schnare said bluntly. “I spun the whole first half of the race. I couldn’t get going.”

Accardy simply squeezed his nose with index finger and thumb. “Not good,” he said of Schnare’s race.

The same could not be said of the team’s overall performance.

Northridge has 203 points at the meet’s halfway point, which would probably be sufficient for a third-place finish when the meet is over.

Xiao-Xia Chen furthered Northridge’s cause, placing third in three-meter diving with a score of 454.75.

The highlight of it all, however, was Breedy’s performance.

It has been 11 years since she set what was then an American record of 56.90 in the 100 backstroke as a high school senior in Pennsylvania.

She said earlier in the week that she would be satisfied with a time within a half-second of her best.

Breedy almost accomplished that in the morning prelims, shattering the meet record by .33 with a time of 57.64.

“This is the best I’ve done in eight years,” she said after the final. “I’m really much stronger than I thought I would be.”

Breedy became eligible to swim for Northridge in January. She has been training only a couple of months. “It’s just a matter now of getting stronger,” Breedy said. “Considering how fat and out of shape I am, I’m very happy.”

The 200 backstroke, which may be Breedy’s best event, is Saturday. Her chief competition again will be Mettam, who has won the past two years.

Mettam’s winning times have been in the 2:07 to 2:08 range, however, and Accardy expects Breedy to crack 2:04.

“She’s capable of someday going under two minutes,” Accardy said. “But she’s not to that level yet.”

Breedy and Mettam embraced after the race.

“I told her she was the one I was watching the whole race,” Breedy said. “She was the one to beat.”

The Northridge men’s team moved into fourth place with 92.5 points. Oakland (Mich.) leads with 163.5 points and Cal State Bakersfield is second with 131.

Sean Parker tied for third in the 100-yard backstroke in 52.76. Rick Giambastini was fourth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:51.10 and Jesse Kelly was fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.97.

CSUN’s 800-yard freestyle relay team of Ted Hollahan, Jon Carpadakas, Tim Arnold and Sean Parker was third in 6:44.16.