Ugur Taner, Sign In Please

-- BELLEVUE

It's happening already.

At a meet in Ellensburg two weeks ago, Newport High's Ugur Taner was cornered by a mob of autograph-seekers.

"I got out of the warmup pool, and I guess a lot of people knew that I'm going to the Olympics," he said, "because all these kids ran up with T-shirts (to have signed). They had a line of people.

"It's kind of weird. I don't really picture myself like that."

Wait until they find out he has been named The Times' 1991-92 Eastside male athlete of the year.

The high-school all-American will have to find a new pool, alter his training schedule, enter and leave through a back exit. He'll certainly have to ditch the Newport letter jacket.

Most of the elite high-school athletes have felt patches on their jackets, shaped like the state, with the championship sport or event stitched inside the outline.

The back of Taner's coat is covered by a large felt patch in the shape of the continental United States - with a list of national achievements he has accomplished in his senior year.

At the Class AAA state swim meet last February, Taner became the first male swimmer in state history to complete an eight-for-eight high-school career in individual events at the state meet (although one victory was negated by a disqualification for an illegal turn in his freshman year).

While completing the sweep, the California-bound sprinter managed to break three national public high-school records - all in the first day of the two-day meet.

The records: 48.14 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, 20.02 seconds in the 50 free and 43.98 seconds in the 100 free (set in a leg of the 400 free relay).

Ugur Taner, you've just become the fastest swimmer in state history . . . Where are you going, now?

"I'm going to Spain for the Olympics."

Where else?

Taner, born in Istanbul, will swim for his native Turkey in Barcelona next month.

He considered trying out for the U.S. Olympic team, but the schedules wouldn't permit switching back to the Turkish team if he didn't make the U.S. squad.

"I'll see how things go with Turkey," he said. "It's a good chance to go swim with the best and among the best, so I might as well. And I'll gain some good experience from it."

He's not counting on gaining any heavy metal from the trip, but the possibility has crept into his mind.

"It would be kind of neat to get a medal and say, I'm a swimmer in this country," he said. "It'd be kind of neat to say, `Here I am.' "

There'd be no end to the line of T-shirts.

And it would probably still seem strange to Taner to be considered the owner of a signature in such high demand - alongside those whose signatures he had just as eagerly sought when he was younger.

Matt Biondi. Tom Jaeger. Pablo Morales.

"The way I used to look at them was they're the masters of swimming. They still are," he said. "They're kind of like the gods of swimming. But I had a chance to meet Matt and know him as a person. Whenever you know someone as a person instead of an athlete, you kind of get a different view."

Especially if you've also seen that someone from your rear-view mirror.

Taner defeated Biondi in a U.S. Open meet last November. Taner will quickly tell you Biondi was tired and unshaven for that race.

But most who know will tell you it's an indication of an Olympic future rising on the Eastside.

And it's happening already. -----------------------------

TANER / BIO High school: Newport. Height: 6 feet 1. Year: Senior. Sport: Swimming. Honors/highlights: Taner won all eight individual races he was allowed to enter in Class AAA state-meet competition in four years. The only blemish among the eight was a disqualification for an illegal kick in one state-meet race his freshman year. Set three national public high school records during the past state meet: 50-yard freestyle (20.02 seconds), 100 butterfly (48.14) and 100 freestyle (43.98 in the first leg of the 400 free relay). Will swim for Turkey in the Barcelona Olympics. Personal: Taner was born in Istanbul, Turkey and has returned during summers to swim for a club team there. . . . Beat Olympic gold-medalist Matt Biondi in 100 fly last November at U.S. Open meet. College: California.