San Diego (special) -- There is a reverse California Gold Rush occurring. Instead of digging the coveted metal out of the hills of our state, Jewish athletes are bringing lots of gold back to California -- gold medals, that is, from the recent 15th Maccabiad in Israel.

San Diegans Lindy First, Jill Prolman and Marge Kalmanson all came home with gold around their necks--and in some cases some silver medals too - following successful competitions in tennis against other Jewish athletes from throughout the world.

First, 14, a sophomore at La Jolla High School, was teamed with Ross Greenstein, 15, of Minneapolis, in the mixed doubles event for players aged 14-17. They played five matches en route to the gold medal, consecutively beating teams from Holland, Mexico, England, South Africa and Israel.

Prolman, 36, won gold medals in women's singles and in mixed doubles, and also took the silver in women's doubles in the division for players aged 35-39. Kalmanson competed in the master's division for players 60 and over, winning the gold medal in mixed doubles, and silver medals in women's singles and women's doubles. Each player had quite a story to tell.... For example, partners First and Greenstein never had met prior to the time the team assembled in New York for a few practices before flying to Israel.  They were paired because both were the top-ranked

JILL PROLMAN

American players participating in the Maccabiad in their gender and age group. Greenstein is rated "around 40th" in the nation, while First currently is 116th, she said.

How do two strangers win a gold medal together? "We became really good friends," First replied. "When we were on the court, we decided that while we had to play really hard we also should have a lot of fun. So if one of us hit a bad shot, we just knew we needed to pump each other up." 

When either scored a point, they would celebrate by slapping their hands together in "a high five."

In contrast, she said, partners on some of the opposing teams "got angry at each other" when mistakes were made. And apparently, seeing First and Greenstein get along together so well contributed to their frustration. The American teenagers not only fired good shots across the net, they also aced their opponents with some good psychology.

First's performance with Greenstein contrasted with her outing in the women's doubles competition with an incompatible partner, who missed shots and "then I started to miss shots -- we were pathetic!" First said. They were eliminated in the first round.

Playing as a single, First reached the semifinals before losing to an Israeli player. "I played a good game, but she was good and also stronger and older --17," First said. Asked what was the best part of her game, the high school student thought for a few seconds and replied, "I have a really good backhand." So, someone should never serve to her backhand? "Well," she replied, "my forehand is not bad either. I don't know." Besides fostering competition, the Maccabiah Games are intended to create friendships among Jewish athletes from around the world.

MARGE KALMANSON

"All the juniors from different countries stayed at the same hotel," First said. "There were activities every night, and there was a pool, so everyone got along really well. I met so many new friends. So far, I have written them some letters and some e-mail."

* * *
Jill Prolman knew she had travelled to Israel to play tennis--lots of it. But what she hadn't realized was how grueling a schedule can become when you are simultaneously advancing to the finals in three separate medal competitions.

Each round you advance, the level of competition gets tougher, so imagine what it was like for Prolman on the next-to-the-last day of competition.

In the morning she played in the semi-final match of the women's singles tournament, defeating another American 6-0 and 6-1. At 4:30 p.m. that afternoon, she and fellow San Diegan Debbie Jacobs played in the women's doubles finals, losing a heartbreaker to a rival American team 3-6 and 5 7.

There was little time for Prolman to reflect why her women's doubles medal was silver and not gold because at 7:30 p.m, she and Ross Laser of Chicago had a semi-final match in mixed doubles competition against a tough American team. The match took more than two hours, requiring three sets before it was finished: 6-3, 4-6 and 6-0. The singles victory meant that Prolman would compete at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. The match took three hours, with Prolman finally prevailing over Ellen Markowitz of New York 3-6,7-6, and 6-3 on a hot and humid day. The adrenalin of competition had gotten Prolman through the match, especially since Markowitz had been on the women's doubles team that had defeated her and Jacobs the day before.

LINDY FIRST

But when she returned to the hotel room where she and her husband, David, were staying -- as her biggest fan, "he won a gold medal in clapping" -- Prolman was so exhausted, she wondered if she ever would get back up to play in the finals of the mixed doubles.

Her partner, Laser, meanwhile, was recovering from a flu, and to conserve energy, decided to forfeit his chance to win a bronze in the men's singles competition.

When the worn warriors dragged themselves to the court for the finals match, luckily for them their competitive juices kicked back in. In what must have seemed an anti-climax, they polished off their Israeli opponents 6-2 and 6-3 to take a gold.

* * *

For Marge Kalmanson, perhaps the most memorable match of the Maccabiad came in the first round of the women's singles competition. With quite a bit of emotion, she faced Ruth Shakenovsky of the Israeli team. Like Kalmanson, Shakenovsky had grown up in South Africa's Jewish community. In fact, she was the first person Kalmanson ever had played a tennis match against -- nearly 50 years ago exactly. "She and I were best friends from the age of 5 in Germiston (near Johannesburg) and we were tennis partners, squash partners and we got our colors (similar to a varsity letter) together,"

Kalmanson said. "She immigrated to Israel in 1993, and when I went to the Maccabiah that year I suggested to her that she consider playing for Israel. 

"This time, I called her and she said because of my nagging, she would play--and she did. I won $50 on a bet with my husband that I would draw her in the first round."

Shakenovsky won the first set 6-4, and was up 3-0 in the second set, when Kalmanson rallied. She went on to win the second set 7-6 and the third set 6-3. The match was played over 2 1/2 hours in 93 degree weather.

In subsequent matches, in two of the three competitions, Torva Epstein, Israel's top player among women over 60, proved to be Kalmanson's nemesis.

Epstein had won golds in the last three Maccabiads, and paired with Shakenovsky against Kalmanson and Honey Myers of Belle Harbor, N.Y. in the finals of the women's doubles. 

The combination of top Israeli player and her old school chum proved lethal, with the Americans losing 4-6, 6-4, and 4-6 in a humid and torrid 2 3/4-hour game that was so suspenseful that Kalmonson's husband, Geoffrey, later commented he never wanted to live through another match such as that.

Epstein also defeated Kalmanson in the finals of the women's singles competition, 6-0 and 6-4.

In the gold medal round of the mixed doubles, Kalmanson paired with Jerry Friedman of Los Angeles to defeat Donald Greenberg of Ithaca, N.Y., and Honey Myers, who had been her partner in the women's doubles competition.