BRIEFLY : GEORGIA TOPS STANFORD FOR NCAA SWIM TITLE.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

Cheered on by a raucous home crowd, Georgia got surprising victories from Julie Varozza (1,650 freestyle) and Keegan Walkley (200 backstroke) in the first two races Saturday and cruised to victory at the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships in their own pool.

Runner-up Stanford, which had won the title five of the last six years, extended its remarkable run of finishing no lower than second since 1988.

SMU finished third in the team standings with 370.5 points, followed by Arizona with 332, California 315 and USC 245.

OLYMPICS: At a time he is seeking to overcome the worst scandal in the IOC's 105-year history, president Juan Antonio Samaranch admitted that he should have stepped down after the Barcelona Games in 1992.

``I always thought that the moment to go was after Barcelona, once that dream (to see the Olympics held in his native city) had been fulfilled,'' Samaranch said in an interview published in the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia.

Synchronized diving will make its debut as a medal sport at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney after being approved by the International Olympic Committee's executive board. A demonstration event at Atlanta three years ago, synchronized diving becomes an official Olympic sport 16 years after synchronized swimming made its debut at Los Angeles in 1984.

HOCKEY: The Ottawa Senators acquired left wing Ted Donato from the New York Islanders in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 1999 draft.

Former Vezina Trophy winner Jim Carey's hopes of staying in the NHL were dashed again when the St. Louis Blues sent him to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL.

BASKETBALL: Funeral services will be held Monday for William ``Bill'' Gardiner, chief scout for the NBA's Washington Wizards since 1974 and former coach at Loyola of New Orleans.

Gardiner, 77, died Friday in Baton Rouge, La., following a brief illness.