Peirsol’s back to reality -- sort of

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH -- After two years of training, four weeks of

pre-Olympic preparation and two weeks of Olympic exposure in Sydney,

Australia, one question still puzzles silver medalist Aaron Peirsol.

Why do people eat Vegemite?

“Dude, that stuff is nasty,” the Newport Harbor High School junior

said. “And people over there eat it like it’s butter or something. They

put it on everything. I just don’t get it.”

For the 17-year-old, he’ll stick with his chocolate-chip pancakes,

thank you very much.

“I finally got to have some when I got back home,” he said. “It’s been

weeks and weeks since I’ve had them. I feel much better now.”

For those people who just moved into the area, Peirsol won the silver

medal at the Sydney Games in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of

1:57.35, just behind world champion Lenny Krayzelburg of the U.S.

(1:56.76) and just ahead of Matthew Walsh of Australia (1:57.59).

“It was a solid race for me,” Peirsol said. “After the time trials and

the traveling and all that was going on, I wasn’t in tiptop shape going

into the race. But overall, I was very happy with how things turned out.”

Peirsol is home now after his Olympic adventure and, despite the

nonstop phone calls and mountains of new USA clothing, it’s the family’s

goal to try to return to a somewhat normal life. Similar to what it was

when he was “just” a three-time CIF Southern Section Division I champion

for the Sailors.

“Nothing’s changed,” Peirsol said. “My family has been great at trying

to keep things as normal as possible. Now that I’m back home with

home-cooked meals and I’m back in my old bed, everything is pretty much

the same.”

Perhaps the same in terms of normal life, but has the Olympic

experience changed Peirsol?

“It’s changed me, but it’s hard to describe how it’s changed me,” he

said. “I think I’ve matured a little bit during all of this. I was away

from the family for over six weeks straight. I learned a little bit about

myself.”

Being a member of the U.S. Olympic Team was a great thrill for

Peirsol, but it wasn’t all fun and games.

“There were a ton of rules and regulations to follow,” Peirsol said.

“There was a strict curfew before our meet, and we even had a curfew

after our meet. I guess with a lot of younger athletes, they had to be

strict.”

Peirsol did get to go out and see some of the events, but for the most

part, he kept to the business at hand before his competition.

“Before my event, I would practice for a while, then watch other

events on television as they were happening, which was pretty cool. After

my race, I went to some track and field events and did some city

sightseeing with my family.”

During the opening ceremonies, Peirsol got to experience firsthand one

of the best-ever openings in Olympics history. But even in all the

hoopla, he managed to strategically place himself in a camera-friendly

position among the horde of American participants.

“The swimmers made sure we were near the men’s basketball players,”

Peirsol said with a laugh. “We also made sure we were in front of them so

we could see everything that was going on.”

On the podium to receive his silver medal and hearing the national

anthem played was not only a memorable moment, but also fuel for

motivation for the 2004 Games set for Athens, Greece.

“It was great hearing our anthem played while I was up there with

Lenny, but I was thinking about how great it would be to win the gold and

have them play that anthem for me.”

Which brings us back to the two-time gold-medal winner in Sydney.

Krayzelburg, 24, has announced his plans to compete at the Athens Games.

“I think that’s a good thing, not only for me, but for swimming as a

whole,” Peirsol said. “He’s a heck of a swimmer, and I think his best

times are still ahead of him. It’ll be nice to have someone I can compete

with for the next four years.”

It was only two years ago that the thought of Peirsol competing in

this year’s Olympics was a possibility. Now just 1,400-plus days away

from Athens 2004, the backstroke standout will have not only an extra two

years of intense training, but he will also have Father Time in his

corner helping him grow and mature.

“There’s a lot of stuff I’ll be doing before the next Olympics, but

they’ll get here before you know it,” Peirsol said. “I’ll talk to my

coaches and see if I’ll be hitting more weights in addition to my

swimming as I get older. But right now, it will be pretty much the same

as I’ve been doing.”

Peirsol will be honored at the Sailors’ football homecoming pep rally

at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 18, as well as at the homecoming game Oct. 19.”The

whole Olympic experience was great,” Peirsol said. “My family and I got

to check out the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House and the Bridge. It was

something I definitely will never forget.”

For Peirsol’s dad, Tim, this entire Olympic experience is still just a

two-week blur that is slowing coming into proper focus.

“I don’t think I’ve fully comprehended what we’ve just gone through,”

the elder Peirsol said. “I’m sure with the parties and engagements that

Aaron will be attending, it will help us realize the magnitude of what

he’s done. We should be more amazed, but we live with this kid, so we’re

around it all the time.”

Upon Aaron’s return home Friday, it’s been a nonstop deluge of phone

calls.

“We’ve had to start screening calls just to keep control,” Tim Peirsol

said. “When Aaron got back, it got really crazy. I hope people understand

that we’re not trying to be mean or anything. Mainly it’s been

well-wishers and relatives congratulating Aaron. I’m sure it will

eventually die down and life will get back to normal.”

Living with a host family just outside of Sydney, Aaron’s family saw

some of the sights but for the most part just tried to soak up the Aussie

area through relaxation.

“We’re not the greatest sightseers by nature,” Tim Peirsol said. “We’d

do some running and swimming around the area. We got to see the Opera

House and the Sydney Harbor area, which was beautiful, especially at

night.”

Sometimes for Tim Peirsol, lack of knowledge was a good thing,

especially when running.

“I’d be running through this bush area near our house, and I’d get

lost,” he said with a laugh. “Once I figured out how to get back, the

family I was with said, ‘Do you realize that there are poisonous snakes

and spiders out where you were running?’ That grabbed my attention.”

One of the nice amenities that came with being a family member of an

Olympian came at the many AT&T; Centres throughout Sydney.

“From noon to night, they would feed you as much as you wanted and

pretty much whatever you wanted,” Tim Peirsol said. “They had monster

prawns on the barbecue, if you wanted a latte, they would make one for

you. We pretty much lived there for the first few days.”

The Peirsol clan did manage to capture some moments of their trip on

videotape. Just don’t ask to see any still shots of the vacation.

“We thought we packed the camera, but we couldn’t find it anywhere,”

Tim Peirsol said. “Finally, when we got home, Wella found it at the

bottom of one of our bags. I did buy a disposable camera for the race,

but we were so far away I had to take shots of the Jumbotron screen. I’m

sure those will be just dots on the film.”

He wanted to once again thank the many people that helped make this

trip possible.

“People like Michele Mullen, Claire Belden, Lauren Johnson and the

folks at the American Legion Hall, among others, have been just

wonderful,” he said. “They have no idea how much we truly appreciate

everything everyone has done for us.”

For Aaron’s mom, Wella, the trip to Australia was much less stressful

than the trip to Indianapolis for the time trials.

“The Olympics was way easier,” she said. “The time trials was like

delivering a baby. I think I held it together pretty well in Sydney.”

Wella was especially proud of how well Aaron has handled everything

that has been going on over the past two months.

“He’s still the same kid,” she said. “This morning, the most important

thing to him was his chocolate-chip pancakes and his ‘Dragonball Z’

cartoons. During all of this, he had such a strong faith in himself, that

strong faith rubbed off on us.”

So where does Aaron get such a strong belief in himself?

“He just loves what he does,” she said. “He believes he’s the best

backstroke standout in the world, and he just hasn’t put it all together

just yet.”

A strong belief and confidence is overshadowed by his humility, she

said.

“When he got off the plane at LAX with some of the other local

athletes, Aaron was the only one that didn’t have his medal around his

neck,” she said. “He’s not in this for the medals. If you went into his

room, you wouldn’t even know he was a swimmer. He’s got dozens and dozens

of medals, but they’re not out on display.”

One big thing that she and the rest of the family was amazed with was

the amount of knowledge that the Australians had about Aaron.

“We were swimming at Sutherland Pool one morning and some little

Aussie kids saw Tim wearing one of Aaron’s USA sweatshirts, and they

asked if we were from the States,” Wella Peirsol said. “We said we were,

and they asked us if we were here for the Olympics, and we said yes. When

they asked us which sport we were following and we said swimming, they

got all big-eyed. They asked what event, and we told the the 200 back.

They said, ‘You know the big-haired, surfer kid, Aaron Peirsol?’ We’re

10,000 miles away from home, and they knew everything about him. I don’t

know why they think he’s a surfer kid. Must be the hair.”

For Aaron’s sister, Hayley, seeing her brother reach such heights in

the swimming world has given her serious motivation for a trip to Greece

in four years.

“Seeing everything he’s done has really gotten me motivated to make

the Olympic team in 2004,” the Sailors’ sophomore distance swimmer said.

“It was great to see Aaron do so well. I am very proud of him.”

Hayley was the executive producer, director and film crew of the

family vacation footage, which helped to make up for the missing

still-photo camera.

“Tim did it the first day, but I did it the rest of the way,” Hayley

said. “When Aaron was racing, I tried to get that on camera, but my hands

were shaking so much it was hard to keep still. I had trouble figuring

out how to stop the camera, so there are shots of my shoes and the sky,

but overall, it’s not bad.”

But, like Aaron, the dream vacation is over and reality has set in.

“I have so much homework to do,” she said glumly. “I tried to do my

Spanish homework on the trip, but I still have the rest of it to do. I

got off the plane, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, back to reality,”’

It could be worse. Just ask Aaron.

“He’s got twice as much as I do,” Hayley said happily.