Swimming

The junior swam four All-America times and set three pool records while leading the Dons to their 17th straight swimming title last weekend. That means he has one of the top 130 times in the nation this year in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 42.05 seconds), 100 freestyle (46.45 seconds), 200 freestyle relay (1:25.15) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:07.28). Porter, 16, began swimming for the Loyola Blakefield Aquatics club team at age 8 and hasn't stopped. "He's very good and very, very, very smart," Dons coach Keith Schertle said.

Annapolis Area Christian School is looking for a varsity swimming coach and a girls varsity soccer coach for the next school year. For information, contact athletic director Jim Domoracki, jdomoracki@aacsonline.org or 410-519-5300 x3150.  

Swimming Phelps tuning up in Paris for U.S. nationals in August Michael Phelps will swim in four events at the Paris Open this weekend as part of his preparations for the U.S. championships in August. The 14-time Olympic champion from Baltimore will compete in the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter butterfly today and in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley on Sunday. "Being able to swim four events in two days at the level we're swimming here is really going to test what kind of shape I am in," Phelps said Friday.

Annapolis Area Christian School needs a girls varsity basketball coach and a varsity swimming coach for next season. Anyone interested should contact athletic director Jim Domoracki, 410-519-5300 x3150 or jdomoracki@aacsonline.org .

Anne Arundel Community College has canceled eight day and evening swimming classes at the Arnold campus tomorrow and Tuesday because of the relocation of power lines in the science building.That building is being renovated.Only classes in the Olson Pool buildings are affected, college officials said.Classes canceled tomorrow are Swimming 3 at 6 a.m., Physical Education and Water Safety at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Scuba Techniques at 7 p.m.Classes that won't be held Tuesday are Swimming 3 at 6 a.m., Physical Education and Water Safety at 9 a.m., Water Aerobics at 10:05 a.m. and Swimming 1 at 7:35 p.m.College officials are trying to reach individual students to tell them of the cancellations.

Anita Nall is only 14, so it's safe to assume that her best swimming is still ahead of her. In that case, American swimming has a bright future, and Marylanders will play a big part in it. On Thursday, Nall, a Towson High School student who swims for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, set a U.S. record for the 200-meter breast stroke and came within 37/100ths of a second of setting a new world record. Jill Johnson of Lutherville finished third in Nall's event, while Brandy Wood and Amanda White of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club finished 11th and 13th.

Chessie, the wayward manatee swimming north at a record pace, has made history by becoming the first documented creature of its species to journey to New England, marine experts said yesterday.Chessie has astounded marine biologists, who for the first time have documented this endangered species moving beyond the Middle Atlantic states.The manatee, also known as a sea cow, was spotted swimming and resting on the industrial shores of New Haven, Conn., on Saturday."We have never documented a manatee sighting north of the Chesapeake Bay," said Jim Reid, a biologist with the National Biological Service.

Summer is shorter than any one - Life is shorter than Summer - Seventy Years is spent as quick As an only Dollar - - Emily Dickinson Summer seems shorter every year. School systems cut down summer in her prime, calling all the young inside by the end of August. Football and soccer coaches blow their whistles a week before that. And music faculty practice with marching bands and cheerleading squads as soon as August begins. What is going on here? Swimming pools, without exception, lock their gates at dusk on Labor Day. Swimming into September does not have a chance anymore.

Archbishop Spalding will join Severn next winter as the only county schools fielding swim teams.Athletic Director Domenic Pachence announced yesterday that Spalding will be ready to compete during the 1992-1993 season, most likely in the Maryland Scholastic Association BConference."

As far as middling art-house pictures go, Laurel Canyon had sexier swimming-pool scenes and splashier performances than Swimming Pool, a hollow excuse for an erotic mystery. In Francois Ozon's mostly English-speaking movie, Charlotte Rampling plays an English detective novelist who takes vacations at the country home of her publisher (Charles Dance) in the South of France, only to have her blissful solitude disturbed by the unexpected arrival of the publisher's nubile daughter (Ludivine Sagnier)

When 11-year-old Benjamin Lausch competes in triathlons, his eye is on beating a boy from Pennsylvania named Daniel. Daniel competes in a lot of the same races as Benjamin and is "very, very fast. " Benjamin beat him once and hopes that with a little more time and practice he might one day catch Daniel again. Benjamin ran his first triathlon when he was 7 years old and has become fiercely competitive and hooked on the sport, which includes a run, swim and bike component. "I like the running mostly," said Benjamin, who lives in Mount Airy . Triathlons were once limited to adult competitors but are becoming popular among the younger set as well.

COLLEGE PARK - The C. Milton Wright girls swimming team's nearly two-year unbeaten streak came to an end Saturday, as the defending class Class 3A-2A-1A champs came up short at the state finals, finishing second to Poolesville. The Mustangs finished the meet at the University of Maryland's Eppley Swimming Center with 221 points. Poolesville earned 273.5 points, and third-place Oakdale scored 178. Fallston's boys took third place with 122 points. Poolesville (287) also won the boys meet, and Damascus took second with 132 points.

St. Paul's senior Jordan Surhoff has been swimming almost as long as she can remember. The daughter of Orioles Hall of Famer B.J. Surhoff and former internationally ranked swimmer Polly (Winde) Surhoff, she has three older swimming siblings - Austin, a senior at Texas; Kendall, a freshman at North Carolina; and 20-year-old Mason, who is autistic and swims in the Special Olympics. Surhoff, who turns 18 Saturday, put the perfect ending on her St. Paul's swimming career last weekend by winning two individual events in record time and anchoring two relays to victory as the Gators finished second in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference.

College basketball Towson's Benimon is CAA Player of the Week again Towson junior Jerrelle Benimon was named the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. It marks the fourth time this season that the forward, who transferred from Georgetown in the offseason, has won the award. Benimon averaged 18.5 points, 12 rebounds, 4.5 assists and four blocks as Towson posted road wins against UNC Wilmington and Drexel last week.

I grew up in Baltimore, in a world where guns were, unambiguously, for deterring or killing people . Family lore says that back in the 1920s, my grandfather used a gun to scare off the Mafia - the Black Hand, as Sicilians of the time called it. While in other cities thugs collected protection money, Baltimore Mayor William Broening deputized Italian businessmen like my grandfather, giving them badges and guns to deter the bad guys. It turned out that, as my dad put it, mafiosi are businessmen.

Jessica Long will tell you: After capturing even more Paralympic gold in London, she couldn't wait to get back to Baltimore for a table heavy with steamed crabs and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. But these days, Long's reality is a touch more glamorous. You can still find the swimmer at the movies in White Marsh, shopping at the Towson Town Center, getting wet at the Merritt Athletic Club. But Long's just as likely to be walking a red carpet somewhere in couture threads, juggling interview requests and considering lucrative opportunities.

As he does just about every Sunday, Michael Phelps will wake up this morning and slip on his Ravens jersey. A replica of Ed Reed's No. 20 bookends Phelps' trim frame. Then he'll hit the streets of Ann Arbor, Mich., searching for a television that's broadcasting today's game from Kansas City. It's a brief break in a schedule that typically has Phelps visiting every corner of the country, alternately smiling, shaking hands and selling his sport - or selling MP3 players or watches or Speedos.

"I'll face the depths by myself. "  Dexter is once again alone, if you don't count the Dark Passenger. After Deb spends the entire episode protecting Dexter in several cases from her fellow police officers, she realizes she cannot continue to be a part of Dexter's darker activities and ends their sharing of information. Not that anyone can blame her. After all, she found out about LaGuerta's private digging into the Bay Harbor Butcher case and recent disappearances. She had to cover-up one of Dexter's mistakes after he was caught on film.