ELLIS TAKES 'PRIDE' IN SWIMMING.

Byline: ERIK BOAL

OLYMPICS

Maritza Correia never getstired of listening to Jim Ellis.

So much so, she took time out of moving into her new home in Raleigh, N.C., to listen to him at a public-speaking engagement Monday.

Cullen Jones never loses sight of how much Ellis affected his swimming career, as well those of several other African-Americans.

His performance in the water is a tribute to the sacrifices Ellis made for the past 35 years to advance swimming for minority athletes.

Correia, a five-time NCAA champion at Georgia, is training for next week's U.S. Spring National Championships in New York. Jones is on the other side of the world preparing for his first FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Despite focusing on their elite meets, they're still well aware of Friday's nationwide release of the movie "Pride," a film starring Terrence Howard as Ellis, in addition to Bernie Mac, who was promoting the film Monday on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and BET's "106th and Park."

"'Pride' is an amazing, amazing jump-start into what we're hoping to accomplish," said Jones, 23, a 2006 North Carolina State graduate and reigning U.S. national champion in the 50-meter freestyle. "And when the Olympics come around (next year), then hopefully we'll be in the spotlight even more."

Of the more than 300,000 competitive swimmers in the United States, fewer than two percent are African-American.

But thanks to Ellis -- who created the Philadelphia Department of Recreation Swim Club in 1972 to help advance swimming for African-American children and has been a spokesperson for USA Swimming in their recent "Make a Splash" campaign -- and the dedication of athletes such as Jones, Correia and PDR alumnus Brielle White, the number of participants is on the rise.

"Because of the movie, Jim said 80 people are on the waiting list to get into PDR," said the 25-year-old Correia, the first African-American female to compete for the U.S. Olympic team, contributing to a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games. "I think this movie will be great because it shows African-Americans do swim. Yes, it's mostly a white sport, but not only a white sport."

Correia and Jones are two of the four African-Americans -- Allison Terry and Hart of Newhall graduate Anthony Ervin the others -- to compete for the U.S. national team.

Correia's path to stardom was much simpler than that of Jones or Ellis. She had access to pools in Puerto Rico and Florida throughout her childhood.

Ellis moved to a nicer facility in Philadelphia in 1980, the Marcus Foster Pool at Simon Gratz High, and has been there ever since.

Four years later, his swimmers started to record national-qualifying times. White, 23, a 2008 U.S. Olympic hopeful, is perhaps his most famous pupil, recording seven All-American times in the backstroke at Virginia.

Jones came to know Ellis growing up in The Bronx, N.Y., before attending St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey.

"North Carolina State took a chance on him because he hadn't done much before he graduated high school," Ellis said. "But if you were a coach you could see this young man was going to be something special."

Correia and Jones saw an advance screening of "Pride" in November. They said the 59-year-old Ellis received a standing ovation.

"I didn't have it anywhere near as bad as they did," Jones said. "It opened my eyes. It came to the point where (they) get to perform, but then (they) can't because of the color of (their) skin. I could've only imagined how they felt."

Fortunately for Correia, Jones and White, they don't have to worry about such injustices anymore. And if Ellis encounters racism or unfavorable treatment, he continues to preach the mantra of "beating them in the pool."

And that's something they can all be proud about.

Jensen set for competition down under

Larsen Jensen again demonstrated he was the best college distance swimmer in the country Saturday.

Now, the USC senior will attempt to reaffirm his status as one of the world's elitecompetitors.

Jensen capped his collegiate career by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle event at the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving National Championships in Minneapolis. His second national title in the mile came two days after his first championship in the 500 freestyle.

But the 21-year-old standout will have little time to celebrate his accomplishments as he is flying to Australia to join the U.S. National team to race in the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne.

"I'm looking forward to coming down to Melbourne, Australia, and competing to the best of my ability there," Jensen said in a conference call. "I'm very much looking forward to competing against Grant Hackett, and that being said, I want to have no misunderstanding that I have a great amount of respect for the man as a competitor and as a friend."

Jensen set the American record in the 1,500-meter long-course freestyle at the 2004U.S. Olympic Trials in Long Beach and then lowered the mark to 14 minutes, 45.29seconds to bring home a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Hackett has held on to the world record since July 2001, when the Australian veteran clocked 14:34.56 at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Remarks between the athletes in Australian and American media outlets leading up to Worlds has drawn more attention to the rivalry.

"I may have said something (that was misinterpreted), but what I do know is that I am very confident in my international ability and I do think that Grant and everybody else on the international level is vulnerable. Nobody's a Superman," Jensen said. "Grant has done a lot for the sport and I think it's great what he's done, but at the same time, there's a bunch of us young guns gunning for him and we constantly measure our performance against him."

In addition to Jensen and Hackett -- who own five of the 10 fastest times recorded in the event -- the 1,500 free will also feature USC graduate Erik Vendt, the U.S. summer national champion, along with 18-year-old Korean sensation Tae Hwan Park, who won the Pan Pacific Championships in August.

Jensen has been under a microscope since his breakout performance in 2004 and knows competing against Hackett in less than two weeks will be no different.

"I'm just, I guess, not afraid to let everyone know that we are ready," he said. "Not just myself, but the other competitors on the world level are ready and excited to go and compete against in the best in the world at the World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games."

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(1) Maritza Correia credits Jim Ellis for influencing her in swimming. "Pride," a movie about Ellis, will open nationwide Friday.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

(2) JENSEN

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