SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Rewind: 1987 U.S. Short Course Championships

"Remember, there are two Missions now."

Indeed, there are two. Viejo vs. Bay. The reigning king vs. the heir apparent.

And it is apparent that Mission Bay is ready to reign, but not without a fight from Mission Viejo – the winningest team in U.S. Swimming history with 46 titles (three since head coach Mark Schubert left Viejo for Bay after the 1985 long course season).

Only eight points separated the two teams (with Mission Bay on top) going into the final relays at the Phillips 66/U.S. Swimming Short Course National Championships March 24-28 at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center.

If you couldn't get excited for this one, you had better check your pulse.

"This was probably one of the closest meets I've been involved with," said a dripping-wet Schubert after he had been tossed into the pool by his victorious swimmers. "The last one (this close) was probably 1980 when it came down to the relays between Mission Viejo and the Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins."

In that one – the 1980 long course nationals doubled as the honorary Olympic trials — Cincinnati trailed Mission Viejo by 23.5 points going into the last relays and came from behind for a 20.5-point combined team win.

Mission Viejo coach Terry Stoddard didn't seem quite as impressed as Schubert regarding the meet's closeness.

"Last year at this meet, it came down to the last relay, too," he said.

But he must have been referring to the men's race (which was decided by a point) rather than the combined title which Mission Viejo won by nearly 100 points. But whether there have been closer races or not is irrelevant. The 1987 short course version had its share of drama, simply because of the Mission-Mission rivalry.

The Mission Bay women had the women's title wrapped up, which they eventually won over runner-up Mission Viejo, 632-486. The Mission Viejo men, on the other hand, had the men's race secured, which they eventually won over runner-up Mission Bay, 473-367.

But with both teams battling for the combined team trophy, the coaches began planning their strategy.

"It was even-up," Stoddard said. "The relays were cut-and-dried. I told the kids, 'Just swim fast.' When you get down to the last relay, that's your only option."

Schubert, however, exercised another option. He split the women's "A" and "B" relays in an effort to score more points.

"We put (Agneta) Eriksson on the 'B' team and (Pam) Hayden on the 'A' team," Schubert said.

Eriksson had earlier placed third in the 100 fly, while Hayden was 10th.

"After winning the women's freestyle relay last night, we felt confident we would win the medley relay," Schubert said. "We were confident because of our depth. As it turned out, we finished first and third, yet the difference in Eriksson's and Hayden's fly splits was only about 7-tenths."

The 1-3 finish (3:43.14 and 3:47.71) earned Mission Bay 80 points and put the Makos up by 30 over Mission Viejo which finished 2-5 (3:45.58 and 3:51.47).

Rather than splitting the men's relays, Schubert kept his teams "honest" to finish in second place (3:19.58) to Longhorn Aquatics (3:18.67). Mission Viejo was third (3:19.96), and the combined team title went to Schubert's Bay bunch, 999-959. Their women's and combined titles were their third and fourth national championships in just one year of competition.

"It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it," Schubert said. "It shouldn't have been this close."

He was right, considering Mission Bay had three disqualifications – the women's 800 freestyle relay (seeded first by 71/2 seconds), Eric White in the finals of the men's 200 back (seeded and qualified fourth) and Scott Heber in the 200 breast (seeded 15th).

Mission Viejo had two of its swimmers disqualified in prelims who were seeded 15th and 23rd.

"When you give up a potential 50 points (actually 72), it puts the other team back in the race," Schubert admitted. "It made the meet more interesting at times and more fun for the spectators, but I didn't think it was so much fun."

Stoddard, however, never thought of anything less than first place.

"Coming in as defending (short course) champs, we had our minds set at the top. I'm real proud of the kids. We came here to speak with action, and I think we did."

Schubert, too, was complimentary of his former club.