San Diego, CA (special) -- Ben Weston, who recently brought home to San Diego seven swimming medals from the Maccabiah Games in Israel, had a chance to shmooze during the international competition with Olympic gold medallist Lennie Krayzelburg about trying out for the 2004 Olympics.  

A big question in Weston's mind was where he should train after he graduates from UC Santa Cruz in 2003.  Perhaps with a college team?  Or is there a particular swimming association Weston should seek?

Krayzelburg replied that unless Weston were to join a college coaching staff - as Krayzelburg did at the University of Southern California - he might find that rules prohibit him from swimming with a college team.  However, the Olympian said, many colleges have affiliate swim organizations which provide athletes the ability to train in conjunction with the collegians.

Weston told HERITAGE that after he obtains his bachelor's degree in business management and economics in 2003, he hopes to devote the next year of his life to training for and competing in the Olympics.  He said he is considering training with swim club affiliates of the University of Texas, USC, or at UC Berkeley. 

What did Krayzelburg tell him?  "Go for it," Weston quoted.

The son of Robert and Susan Weston (and brother of Eve and Leah), the 20-year-old swimmer took a  Maccabiah gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle race -a distance which is equivalent to a mile -- and a pair of silver medals in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle and the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relays.  He also collected four bronze medals.  One was in the 400-meter individual medley (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly), and the other three were in the individual 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter events.

The swim competition was held at the Technion in Haifa. Why did he compete in so many events? I asked him during a telephone interview.

"I got entered by my coach," he responded. "I was the only entry from the United States for the mile-I was the only one with that background.... The 400 (individual medley), I have no idea why they put me in it."  

The "bronze" he later won in that event might have had something to do with the coach's thinking.

Along with U.S. teammate Bryan Goldberg, who also collected seven medals-including golds in the 100-meter freestyle; 200-meter backstroke; 200-meter freestyle, and 400-meter freestyle-Weston was the most prolific medal collector at the 16th Maccabiah games.

Krayzelberg, who led the U.S. team into Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium during opening ceremonies, won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke, but shoulder problems prevented him from competing in other races, Weston said.

Before the Maccabiah began July 16th, Weston toured Israel with other team members.  It was his first visit to that country, and of all the tourist sites, one in particular stands out in the swimmer's memory: the Dead Sea.

It's well known that it's next to impossible to sink in the Dead Sea, so salty is the water.  Imagine the time Weston had trying to swim in that brine.  "It was definitely difficult," he laughed.

Back in his La Jolla High School days, Weston was a CIF swimming champion. In Santa Cruz, he works out twice a day, swimming laps at 6 a.m. and at again at 2 p.m.  But a drawback in his current regimen is that the pool he uses is quite a bit smaller than an Olympic-size pool.  

Backyard swimmers would feel proud if they could complete a fraction of the laps Weston does in such a pool. For a competitive swimmer like Weston, however, "it feels so cramped."