Looking to make own splash

Lindberg's older sister, Bethany, was a three-time All-American swimmer. Walsh is a descendant of Charles Mason, who along with Jeremiah Dixon surveyed what became known as the Mason-Dixon Line.

They will have a chance to make their own marks at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, which begin today in Long Beach, Calif. Lindberg and Walsh will compete in the men's and women's 50-meter freestyle, respectively.

Lindberg was in the stands at the 2000 trials, cheering on his big sister.

"I remember watching, thinking, 'That's what I want to do,'" said Lindberg, a Woodbridge native.

Lindberg, 22, and his older sister are 22 months apart.

"Anytime you have siblings in one family that all do the same sport, there's always going to be competition," said Bethany Lindberg, who was a Big 12 champion at Texas. "I remember the first time at the dinner table when he beat one of my best times for the first time. It was not a pretty sight."

Christian Lindberg did not become a Big East champ in a non-relay event until this year, his senior season. He traced his improvement to his junior year, when he decided to spend more time in the pool and the weight room and cut back on late-night fun.

"I had to scale back a little bit," he said. "I couldn't go out with friends as much as I had in the past."

He also changed his major from aerospace engineering to heath and exercise promotion.

"He's much more into the nutrition aspect than I was," said Bethany Lindberg, now a schoolteacher. "Body-fat-percentage-wise, he knew at one point he was too high and he needed to get back down to a certain number in order to swim fast. He was disciplined enough to do that ... and then he just flew last summer."

Christian Lindberg took 12th in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2003 USA summer national championships, qualifying for the trials with a time of 23.39 seconds. He also swam on a winning relay team at the meet.

"I don't think there was anybody in the stands more excited than I was," Bethany Lindberg said.

Lindberg won three individual events at this year's Big East championships - the 50-yard freestyle in a school-record 19.82; the 100-yard freestyle in a school-record 44.24; and the 100 backstroke. He finished 18th overall in the 50-meter freestyle at the NCAA championships.

Lindberg plans to graduate from Tech next year. He will become a Tech volunteer assistant in the fall and continue to train.

"I feel almost that it would be a waste to quit training as I keep getting faster," he said.

Neither Lindberg nor Walsh has a realistic shot at Athens. Only the top two swimmers in each event at the trials will go to Greece. Lindberg is seeded 42nd out of 43 swimmers in his event, based on his 2003 national championships time. Walsh is seeded 42nd out of 46 swimmers with a time of 26.36 she attained last month.

The 50 freestyle is unpredictable, said Walsh, because it is such a short distance.

"You don't have a lot of room to make mistakes, so you have to be perfectly on," said Walsh, a rising sophomore from Herndon. "In distance swimming, you can hang back and then go catch up. In my event, I have to be winning the whole time or I'm not going to win."

Walsh won the 50-yard freestyle at the Big East championships in a school-record 22.87. She was 19th in the 50-meter freestyle - and third-fastest among freshmen - at the NCAA championships.

"She's as talented as any athlete I've ever seen," Tech coach Ned Skinner said. " I did not realize she would exponentially improve like she did."

Walsh likes that swimming isn't really a team sport.

"It all depends on you," she said. "I'm so competitive that if everyone doesn't want it as bad as I want it, I can't handle it. If I don't swim good, I can't blame anyone but myself."

Walsh was given the first name Mason in part because of her maternal great-great-great-great-great grandfather, one of the two British astronomers who mapped out the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

"My parents always say, 'We're part of the Mason-Dixon Line,'" she said. "It's a family thing."

Her mother has had something else to brag about lately, telling folks of her daughter's spot in the trials

"In Herndon, I'm kind of like a celebrity, which is cool," Walsh said.

MASON WALSH

5-foot-10, 140 pounds

Accomplishments:

Big East champ and Tech record holder in 50 freestyle; 19th at NCAA championships in 50 freestyle; fifth in Big East meet and 74th at NCAA meet in 100 freestyle

CHRISTIAN LINDBERG

6-foot-2, 190 pounds

Accomplishments:

Big East champ in 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke; 18th at NCAA championships in 50 freestyle; Tech records in 50 and 100 freestyle; member of winning relay teams at 2003 and 2004 Big East meets; 12th in 50 freestyle and member of winning 400-meter freestyle relay team at 2003 USA summer national championships

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