ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602260123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THE NORTH CROSS FRESHMAN travels to Indianapolis next week to vie for a spot on this summer's U.S. Olympic swimming team.
North Cross freshman Ginny Johnson has a chance to make history next week when she swims two events at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
Johnson has qualified to try for one of two spots on the United States Olympic team in the women's 400- and 800-meter freestyle competition. A few hundred swimmers from around the country will vie for the spots at the trials March 6-12.
Johnson has been swimming since she was 6 years old. She has been tutored by some of the Roanoke area's better swim coaches - Doug Fonder and Pat Bateman. Currently, she is under the direction of former U.S. Olympic and University of Tennessee coach Ray Bussard and her father, Ned Johnson.
Their requests of her time as a swimmer are demanding, but Ginny has been up to the required tasks. While she might still be too young to beat out the country's best swimmers in the Olympic trials for the team that will compete at this summer's games in Atlanta, her sites are pinned on the future. Four years from now, she'll have more experience, maturity and age.
``She has a fantastic chance [of all the young swimmers] to one day make the Olympics,'' says Bussard. ``But you can suffer an injury, have a car wreck, develop other interests or not develop in the right direction physically. There are a lot of ifs and buts in this.''
Still, Ginny had this dream long ago to be an Olympic swimmer and asked her father to help her attain the goal.
``She really had this dream, but she didn't have an idea whether she could do it or not,'' said Ned. ``I recognized it as a little girl's dream.''
The older Johnson is retired and he was willing to help his daughter make the Olympics if she kept her sights on that goal. He runs his daughter's program when Bussard isn't there. Both are taskmasters who request a lot of Ginny.
At the same time, Ginny finds time to excel in her studies and is a straight-A student. As a cross country runner, she beat Roanoke Catholic's Maeve O'Meara, her only competition, in the Virginia Independent Conference meet. O'Meara, who ran a full cross country schedule as a freshman, was All-Timesland.
Johnson remembers her start as a swimmer.
``I did well in the RVAA [Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association] meet for my age group. I was all excited because all my friends were in swimming. At six years old, every child dreams of the Olympics.
``I remember at 10 watching the Olympics on television. I remember telling my mom [Debbie] that I want to be the first person in the Olympics for two things - running and swimming. Now I've got swimming, but I really just run for fun.''
Bussard entered the picture when he got to know Ned, who was a fund-raiser for Hargrave Military Academy when Bussard was working as a consultant in building the school's pool. Ned asked the former Tennessee coach to help his daughter.
Ginny excelled under Bussard and is a highly ranked swimmer for her age group. Bussard pulled Johnson out of local meets so she could focus on the highest goals.
``I work with her three days a week and I give Ned the schedule for the other days,'' said Bussard. ``I agreed to work with Ginny under these conditions. That she didn't go to the kiss and giggle meets like the city meet. I wanted to work with Ginny to go for qualifying meet standards in the senior nationals.''
That was 18 months ago. At Orlando, Fla., in this year's nationals, Ginny finished sixth in the 800 meters, good enough to earn a medal. She was seeded 10th in the 1,500, which is not an Olympic event, and finished third for another medal. She was also 11th in the 400.
Now there is pressure and hard work, huge demands on someone so young.
``I get nervous just coming to practice,'' said Ginny. ``It could be considered a strict regimen. I've had to work harder. Before when I went to practices, coaches would tell us what they wanted us to do and at the end of two hours, we'd go home.''
Those days are over.
``Now I have to stay here until I do it. Instead of a time frame, it's the amount of yardage [I swim],'' said Ginny. ``There is a lack of having fun and that's what makes it so tough.''
``I'm a taskmaster,'' Ned admits. ``She probably doesn't like it. Not all the time. This is tough to do when it's your own child. When I took on the job to help her get to the Olympics, I try to have an understanding. But if it wasn't hard, everyone would want to go to the Olympics.
``Ginny may not make it, but who knows. If you have a dream and don't try, you never know. She can give it up any time she thinks it's too difficult.''
Ginny stresses, though, the tougher it is, the more she works.
There is a risk that four years from now, this Olympic hopeful might be burned out from the work ethic that is required to go from being a good swimmer in the national meets to being one of the country's two best and an Olympic participant.
Ginny says she works hard to win or have one of the fastest times in the national meets.
``At this level, you work your whole life for 10 minutes of glory. That 10 minutes of glory means everything. If I keep going to senior nationals over the little meets where I know I can get first every time, I just have to keep my eyes on the success.''
When Johnson goes to Indianapolis, she vows to let ``everyone know I'm here. I don't know how well I'm going to do. But then I never do.''
And if the impossible dream happens like the song says?
``I can imagine myself making the team [this year], what it would be like to say, `I'm here.' That would be the ultimate.''
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Ginny Johnson, a freshman atby CNBNorth Cross, has two chances at earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic
swimming team - in the women's 400- and 800-meter freestyle events.
color. 2. Ginny Johnson said of competitive swimming: ``At this
level, you work your whole life for 10 minutes of glory.''