By TRICIA GARNER
tricia@du2.byu.edu
BYU swimmer Arunas Savickas is officially on the road to the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
Nothing is set in stone until later this year, but Savickas is certainly making a case for himself as a repeat contender on the Lithuanian swim team when it heads to Sydney, Australia, next summer.
Step one was the NCAA Championships in March, where Savickas placed high enough to earn second-team All-America honors. Step two was the World Short-Course Championships, which took place this weekend in Hong Kong. In a field consisting of the fastest sprinters in the world, Savickas took 11th and 18th-place finishes in his best events to assert himself as one of the top male athletes at the meet.
'It was a really good meet. I'm very happy,' Savickas said.
Savickas' finishes in the 200-meter backstroke and freestyle events not only were personal best times, but also shattered his old Lithuanian national records. Savickas also competed in one of his weaker events, the 100-freestyle, and placed 24th.
'I dropped about a second in the 200-back, and a second and a half in the 200-free, so it was a good improvement,' Savickas said.
Savickas' 11th place finish in the 200-backstroke race improved upon his 22nd-place standing in the event during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Hong Kong meet is one of the competitions officials look at in the selection process for the 2000 Olympics, and with his strong performances, Savickas took some very definitive steps in that direction.
'The Lithuanian (Swim Federation) President was there, and he was pretty happy with my races,' Savickas said.
BYU men's swim coach Tim Powers, who accompanied Savickas on the trip, was equally impressed.
'It's absolutely a step in the right direction,' he said.
A concern going into the World Short-Course Championships was the fatigue Savickas has experienced recently, which was a factor in the NCAA Championships last month. To the relief of both Savickas and Powers, it was less apparent last weekend.
'I was a little bit tired, but the flight from L.A. to Seoul is about 13 hours, and the flight wasn't full, so I got some sleep then, and it helped,' Savickas said.
The season is not yet over for Savickas. He will compete in some long-course meets in Utah and California this summer. In July, Savickas will head to Istanbul for one of the biggest meets of the year, the European Championships. The European Championships will be the final deciding factor in determining Savickas' future Olympic status.
'I filmed my swims and noticed a lot I can work on,' Savickas said. 'Now I know what I need to do to improve, like turns and things, and hopefully improve this summer.'
With a strong outing at the European Championships, Savickas can repeat as the 12th men's swimmer from BYU to compete in an Olympic meet.