SWIMMING / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Van Almsick and Dolan Set Records as Chinese Settle for Silver

ROME —  Two world records were set on the second day of swimming’s World Championships, and because neither was by a Chinese woman, the water in the Foro Italico pool seemed a lot calmer Tuesday than it had the day before.

That doesn’t mean the Chinese disappeared. They added two silver medals to the three golds and a silver they had won Monday and have already equaled their medal total in the 1991 World Championships.

But at least for one day, they were in the shadows of Germany’s Franziska van Almsick and the United States’ Tom Dolan.

Dolan, a part-time disc jockey when he is not swimming or studying at the University of Michigan, swam the 400-meter individual medley in 4 minutes 12.30 seconds, beating the previous record of 4:12.36 set two years ago by Hungary’s Tamas Darnyi. Considering the four-time world and Olympic champion Darnyi’s stature, eclipsing one of his records is impressive.

Some grander description, however, is required for van Almsick’s 200-meter freestyle time of 1:56.78. Perhaps already, at 16, the richest swimmer in the sport’s history, she now has proven herself one of the fastest, beating German Heike Friedrich’s eight-year-old record of 1:57.55 by more than three-quarters of a second.

After reporters had interrogated China’s Le Jingyi, when she broke the 100-meter freestyle record Monday by almost a half-second, about alleged drug use among her country’s athletes, it was only fair that they should ask van Almsick about her training regimen. But although the questions were asked, they did not have the same zing.

Perhaps, as Chinese officials often suggest, that was the result of cultural bias by the primarily Western reporters who cover swimming. Or perhaps it was because they were more interested in discovering the details of a day that is bound to remain memorable for van Almsick.

Tired after winning bronze and silver medals Monday night in the 100 freestyle and the 800-meter relay, van Almsick tried to conserve energy in the 200 freestyle preliminaries little more than 12 hours later. She conserved too much. Although she was second in her heat, her time of 2:01.55 was the ninth-fastest overall. Only eight advance to the final.

The eighth qualifier, however, was van Almsick’s teammate, Dagmar Hase. Their coaches met after the preliminaries and, recognizing that van Almsick had a better chance to win a medal, agreed that van Almsick should replace Hase in the final. Still, van Almsick had to be convinced that she was doing the right thing.

Perhaps it was her desire to erase any doubt that propelled her to the world record. Just as likely, it was the competition from China’s Lu Bin, whose second-place time of 1:56.89 also beat the previous world record. Costa Rica’s Claudia Poll finished third in 1:57.61. Far behind in fourth and fifth were the United States’ Cristina Teuscher in 2:00.18 and Olympic champion Nicole Haislett in 2:00.30.

There was speculation within the German media that Hase was paid to step aside, which van Almsick vigorously denied. But if it were true, she would never miss the money.

Already a star in Germany after winning four Olympic medals at 14 two years ago in the Barcelona Games, van Almsick’s popularity reached heights previously reserved only for Steffi Graf by winning seven more--six golds--in last year’s European Championships.

Photogenic, personable and, according to Der Spiegel magazine, the first successful athlete in half a century to be embraced by all of Germany--not just the East or the West--she has signed sponsorship deals reportedly worth $10 million over four years. For one with a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, she replaced super model Claudia Schiffer as spokeswoman.

Van Almsick’s mother was an East Berlin speedskating and rhythmic gymnastics coach who has been exposed as a former informer for the government’s secret police, the Stasi. Among East Germans, that is hardly a unique distinction.

But van Almsick was barely touched by the fall of the Berlin Wall, which occurred when she was 11. She recalls that day primarily because she was able to walk into West Berlin for ice cream. Her special sports school closed, but she has continued to train with her coach. Their first separation will occur this fall. Van Almsick plans to attend high school in Coral Gables, Fla., for three months so that she can improve her English.

The other world record-setter Tuesday was not even the most famous individual medley swimmer in his home pool at Ann Arbor, Mich. That distinction belongs to Eric Namesnik, who finished second to Darnyi in the 400 IM at the 1991 World Championships and 1992 Olympics.

If anyone seemed likely to beat Darnyi’s record, it was Namesnik. But he was no match for Dolan, finishing third in 4:15.69. Finland’s Jani Sievinen was second in 4:13.29.

Dolan qualified for the U.S. team in last month’s national championships at Indianapolis despite an asthma attack that forced him into the hospital for observation.

A more apparent, but less distressing, physical problem in Indianapolis was a goatee that was not the same color as the hair on his head because they were touched by differing amounts of chlorine and sun.

When he shaved and tapered for this meet, the first thing to go was the goatee.

“To tell the truth, I got kind of sick of it,” he said. “So did my parents.”