CLOSE-UP
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to The Jewish News
1; 5
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Linda Goldstein waits for her next event.
26
FRIDAY NOV. 27 1987
wimming is an individual
sport, but 13-year-old
Linda Goldstein gets plen-
ty of support in her bid
for national swimming
S
_
honors.
The West Bloomfield resident is a
member of the Michigan Stingrays
Swim Association. The team has six
coaches, including Chuck McClune,
who has coached Linda since she was
eight.
But her most important sup-
porters are her family: father Ralph
— a former basketball captain at the
University of Detroit and a member
of the Titan's Hall of Fame — mother
Maryellen and sisters Barb, 21, and
Susie, 19, both of whom were high
school swimmers.
That support has helped Linda
swim her way to three consecutive
United States Swimming (USS) state
championships in her age group.
Earlier this year, as a 12-year-old,
Linda won six of-the seven events she
entered and set three state records.
She shattered the 500 meter freestyle
mark by almost four seconds, swim-
ming it in 5:08.45. She also set
records in the 200 meter freestyle
(1:57.14) and the 200 meter in-
dividual medley (2:12.69). The other
three events she won were the 100
backstroke, 100 freestyle and 100 in-
dividual medley.
While she may have inherited her
athletic ability from her father, Lin-
da's interest in swimming seems to
have been handed down by her sisters.
"We never pushed athletics;' says
Ralph. "I think we just started swim-
ming when we had a cottage up
north. We just started swimming and
everybody liked it. And it trickled
down from one to the next!'
Linda began swimming at age
seven and soon joined the Stingrays
with almost instantaneous success.