QUANCE-JULIAN TAKES ANOTHER TURN.

Byline: Karen Crouse

INDIANAPOLIS - Kristine Quance-Julian is back to exorcise her poltergeist.

Her mere presence at the Indiana University-Purdue University Natatorium is a show of spunk. It's like Roberto De Vicenzo returning to the Masters after an incorrectly signed scorecard cost him a victory in 1968, or Farrah Fawcett revisiting David Letterman after her rambling wreck of an appearance on his late-night talk show.

When the curtain rises Wednesday on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, all eyes will be on Quance-Julian as the Granada Hills High product attempts to secure one of two spots to Sydney in the 400-meter individual medley.

In the same event, in the same pool, at the same meet in 1996, Quance-Julian was dubiously stripped of her best shot at Olympic immortality when she was disqualified in the preliminaries for an illegal backstroke-to-breaststroke turn.

She would go on to qualify for her first Olympics in the 100 breaststroke, the 200 individual medley and the 400 medley relay.

But it wasn't the same. The 400 IM, you see, was Quance-Julian's best event, the one she felt she owned. It was her baby.

And then she had a child.

Trenton Jeffrey Julian's birth on Dec. 9, 1998, changed everything.

And nothing. In the water, Quance-Julian hasn't lost the steely gaze that could freeze a wave. Her voice was as steady as an assassin's trigger finger the other day when she said, ``I do think about what happened in the 400 IM (at the last Trials), especially lately. I find myself thinking that this is my chance to redeem myself. I just want to make it extra special somehow.''

Out of the water is where Quance-Julian is different. She is softer, more well-rounded, all grown-up.

The swimming world, which long has celebrated tunnel vision and teddy bear-toting kewpie dolls, doesn't know what to make of a competitor who carries her baby around for good luck. For every person who wishes her well, Quance-Julian says, there are more who whisper about how she is deluded, a darkhorse, done.

Quance-Julian, who married Jeff Julian - himself a former world-class swimmer - in 1998, doesn't care.

Win or lose on Wednesday, ``I really feel like my life is so much healthier,'' she said. ``I'm not so single-minded. I'm not so selfish. Before, my world revolved around me and my swimming. Now after practice, I can't wait to run home and be with my family.''

At 25, Quance-Julian has arrived at a place not enough coaches or swimmers get to. Should she earn a berth to Sydney, she will score a major victory for a balanced life over an obsessed one.

That's reason enough to root for her. Then there's this: Should she earn a berth to Sydney, Quance-Julian will have the distinction of being the first female swimmer from the U.S. to qualify for an Olympic team in an event longer than 100 meters after having a child.

There's a reason it never has been done before. It's difficult, juggling the demands of a baby and the training an endurance event such as the 400 IM demands. It'd be impossible if Quance-Julian weren't part of the new breed of swimmers who can stay afloat financially through sponsorships and cash races.

``I've had such a hard time between the toll training takes on my body and coming home and being a mom and wife,'' said Quance-Julian, whose coach at Trojan Swim Club, Mark Schubert, also likes her chances of making the Olympic team in the 200 IM and 200 butterfly.

She freely admits she wouldn't have made it this far without her husband, whom she met at USC. Jeff Julian quit his job as a financial analyst last year so he could stay home and take care of Trenton.

He takes care of Kristine, too; one day recently when her racing times were slow and her spirits were low, she came home to find a bouquet of roses waiting for her. On the card, Jeff had written, ``Remember to stop and smell the roses.''

At that moment, it didn't matter to Quance-Julian that she has been feeling oddly nervous at meets recently, ``like I'm 14 years old,'' she said, ``and at my first nationals again.''

It didn't matter that Trenton sometimes gets confused and calls Jeff ``Mommy.''

Quance-Julian looked at those roses and got her focus back.

``Trenton is such a joy,'' she said. ``I had one of the girls on my team ask me, `How can you not smile when you look at him? How can you ever be unhappy about anything when he smiles at you?' ''

The answer, Quance-Julian is happy to report, is you can't.

QUANCE-JULIAN FILE

Height: 5-foot-8

Weight: 140 pounds

Born: April 1, 1975 in Northridge

Residence: L.A.

High School: Granada Hills

College: USC (1997)

Family: Husband Jeff Julian; son Trenton (18 months)

Notable: Was the leading individual scorer at the 1999 U.S. Summer Nationals, less than a year after giving birth to Trenton; recorded four top-five finishes, including a victory in the 200-meter individual medley. . . . Won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics as a member of the 400-meter medley relay.

Did You Know? Quance-Julian is trying to become the first U.S. swimmer to qualify for an Olympic team in an event longer than 100 meters after having a baby.

Quance-Julian's Trials schedule: 400 IM on Wednesday; 200 IM on Friday and Saturday; 200 butterfly on Saturday and Sunday.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: Kristine Quance-Julian, here winning the 400 IM at the FINA Swimming World Cup in January, has evolved since a disappointing 1996 Olympics.

Rob Griffith/Associated Press

Box: Quance-Julian file (see text)