1982_04 The Daily Collegian April 1982

              Page 6—the Daily Collegian-April I, 1982
Synchronized swimmer plans for title
Fresno State University freshman
Pavia Wald gave FSU another national
ranking, bringing home a third-place
medal in the solo event of the national
collegiate sychronized swimming championships held in Columbus, Ohio last
The 20-year-old Wald, who earlier this
month qualified for the championship by
placing third in the 11-state synchronized
swimming regionals, scored a lifetime best
55.3 out of 60 possible points.
Her swim routine involves coordinating
figure movements with music.
She finished behind the 1981 gold
medalist in synchronized swimming,
Tracy Ruiz, who placed first, and second-
place finisher, eight-time ail-American
Karen Callaghan from Ohio State Uni-
I he third place finish qualifies Wald for
consideration for the United States International team trials to be held at the
Olympic Training Center in Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
Wald was the only representative from
Fresno State University, competing with
12 other schools who sent from four to 20
members to the competition.
"I got lots of support," Wald said after
the championships. "Everyone kind of
adopted me, giving me suggestions."
"I couldn't believe it," said Carol
Dentch, Wald's coach. "A year ago this
kid was getting 7s.' She's made a two-year
improvement with the 9.2s she received in
the championships. I wish I could have
seen the look on her face when she heard
the scores."
Dentch could not go to the nationals
since synchronized swimming is not recognized as a team sport at Fresno State
University, and therefore Wald's trip was
not funded by the college.
This lack of recognition almost pre-
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vented Wald from going to the nationals.
In order for her to compete in the nationals. Wald needed a waiver of an AIAW
rule stating that synchronized swimming
must be a team sport at the school where
the participant is attending in order to
receive the waiver but not until four days
before the nationals began.
"It's frustrating," Wald said (before she
knew that she could go), "when you're
working 42 to 45 hours a week in and out
of the pool, not knowing whether or not
you are eligible." x
For Wald, the third-place finish represents the culmination ofa comeback effort
since returning to the sport two years ago.
Born in Carmel, Wald moved.to Monterey and began her synchronized swimming career in the sixth grade. After earning such honors in the sport as 12-and-
under champion and Far-Western teen
champion, she decided to quit the sport.
"I was burned out from swimming year-
round for five years," said Wald. "I guess I
reached one of those plateaus where you
don't improve for awhile and that was
getting me really discouraged."
Dentch said another contributing factor to Wald quiting during a peak time in
her swimming career was that she was
devoting her time to care for her mother
who was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease.
The time away from the sport doesn't
seem to have hurt Wald as she has risen
through the natjonal rankings since retunr*
'In this sport you have
to make a name yourself in order to be
recognized...'
ing to synchronized swimming two years
ago. Wald hopes her third-place finish in
the nationals will improve her chances for
continuing success.
"In this sport you have to make a name
for yourself in order to be recognized and
when you are recognized, your scores go
up. Hopefully this year 111 break the ice."
Wald would also like to see synchronized swimming become a team sport at
FS U, or at least achieve club status so that
the school could be represented at the
She has started a synchronized swimming club on campus, of which she jokes,
"I'm the only active member." Wald said
through school support and recruitment;
FSU could have a team capable of
national ranking by next year.
For now Wald has her eyes on the United States synchronized swimming zone
championships to be held in late April in
Monterey. If she places in this event, it wilt
be on to the United States Nationals this
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April 1, 1982-the Daily Collegian-Page 7
Arnold
Continued from page 5
comedian and seems to welcome the
clowning around for its elimination of
"On the surface, he doesn't look like he
has a serious bone in his body," Estes said.
"But he takes his running and his education quite seriously."
Arnold's seriousness just missed 'earning him a chance to compete in the NCAA
indoor championship meet. Ron's 1:03.68
500-meter time was just three-one hundredths of a second shy of the qualifying
time for the NCAA meet.
Estes' two-mile relay teams (4 « 800-
yards) have been among the West Coast's
best. Last year the' FSU quartet set a
school record at the Mt. SAC Relays with
a time of 7:27. Arnold was a member of
that foursome which won the power-
packed "open" division. He will anchor
this year's effort to retain that title.
Teammates speak highly of Arnold and
while they are entertained by his jokes,
they arc also motivated by his example.
"Ron helps the team by cheering everybody up and at the same time sets a
good example," said 400-meter hurdler
Pepe Lozano. "Besides that, he's a good
runner. Hell probably win the PCAA."
Sprinter Terry Neely described Arnold
as "a good guy who always gets the job
done." Neely said that Arnold provides
the influence his teammates need from a
captain.
"I don't do it (the joking around) as a
captain," Arnold said. "People have a lot
of nervous energy. If they can get it out, I
think they run better. 1 joke around to get
rid of a lot of this nervous energy."
Track meets at FSU receive little of the
spectator support that the football and
basketball games bring in. Arnold said
that he and other track competitors
became used to small crowds in high
school meets where the s
"You resent it, but you don't let it hold
you down," Arnold said. "As long as I
have at least one person I know out there,
111 run better."
Away from the track, Arnold is a quiet
individual. He is a journalism major and
hopes to eventually work for a newspaper
in Orange County after being graduated
"I decided to become a journalism
major two years ago after watching Lou
Grant on television." said Arnold, a
senior. "1 had been in school for two years
and I realized I needed a major. It was
like, 'you better get into something fast."
Arnold grew up in Duarte, a small suburb of Los Angeles. He lived in a quiet
middle class neighborhood where he and
his friends "centered their lives around
When he entered high school. Arnold
decided to concentrate on his greatest
love, running. As a senior at Duarte High
School, he won the CIF Section 2-A half-
mile in a time of 1:56.5.
Arnold ran for Citrus Community College his freshman year with an 800-meter
best of 1:56.5. He decided to change
schools after that season and enrolled at
Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. His
times were somewhat slower at Orange
Coast College.
"During my sophomore year I experienced culture shock." Arnold said.
"Costa Mesa had a kicked-back lifestyle.
For myself, it wasn't the best life style."
Arnold said that after his sophomore
season he wanted to leave the Los Angeles
area to attend a four-year college.
"I had just broken up with my girlfriend
and I wanted to get away." Arnold said.
"We had been almost ready to get married, but I guess it was stupidity on both of
our parts. She's married now and we've
remained friends."
Looking for a school that had a good
reputation in journalism and track. Arnold
narrowed his choices to FSU and Northern Arizona. He contacted Red Estes and
decided that Fresno had the track-team
and the journalism department that he
During Arnold's first season at FSU,
Tragedy struck his life when his older sister
was murdered by a boyfriend who Arnold
said was mentally disturbed.
"She had been trying to talk him into
going to the hospital," Arnold said. "I
went down there to be with my family
after it happened. They were very broken
up by it. Somehow, it didn't affect my.
running. I feel that running helped me not
think about it."
Arnold's tone of voice was soft throughout the interview, reflecting his shyness .
away from the track. In his always polii
manner, he
trovert. Or w
ruly is
s it the other way around?
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