Olympic Medal On His Mind Death Of Dad At ‘92 Games Derailed Dreams, But Karnaugh Inspired Anew

When swimmer Ron Karnaugh talks to one of his sisters, she likes to remind him there is still plenty of space left in the scrapbook.

After graduation ceremonies Wednesday at the New Jersey Medical School, he wants to fill in some of that space, starting with next year’s world championships and ending at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Karnaugh, 31, last competed at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. Going into those Games, he was a favorite in the 200-meter individual medley.

But during the opening ceremonies, his father, Peter, collapsed in the stands just after seeing his son walk around the track and was pronounced dead of a heart attack.

Karnaugh chose to race and finished his event in sixth place.

After that, Karnaugh, who had been competing since he was 8 years old, was never the same swimmer.

He cut back on his hours in the pool when he started medical school in 1992, with financial help from New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who was the U.S. Olympic Committee vice president and was present when Karnaugh learned of his father’s death.

He took a year off to try for the 1996 Atlanta Games, but didn’t qualify. What followed turned nasty.

Karnaugh tried to have Greg Burgess kicked off the Olympic team after his arrest for public drinking. Such a move would have put Karnaugh, the first alternate in the 200-meter individual medley, on the team, but the USOC declined to penalize Burgess.

After the Atlanta Olympics, Karnaugh returned to school and even tried to give up swimming competitively.

“I tried to stop, to become a recreational athlete,” he said.

But that created problems. He gained weight and lost his ability to focus on schoolwork. Besides, there was this unfinished Olympics business.

“In 1992, I didn’t have a positive experience,” he said. “I still have the desire to win a medal in the Olympics. I still believe I can perform up to the level of that competition.”

So now, when other medical school graduates are thinking about residency programs, Karnaugh is heading back to the pool.

He still has a four-week elective course to finish before he officially gets his degree, but said he will put that off until the fall, along with deciding whether to apply for a residency program in orthopedic research.

Instead, Karnaugh will join a training program in Fort Washington, Pa. There he will train full time for the U.S. national championships in Tennessee in July.

If he wins, he qualifies for the world championships in Australia in January 1998. After that, Karnaugh is intent on returning to Australia in 2000.

Karnaugh insists his prime swimming years are ahead of him. He qualified for this year’s world championships, held in Sweden in April, and came away with bronzes in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys. He even set an American record in the 400.

“There’s this perception that swimming is a sport for kids,” he said. “Studies have shown that male athletes peak at the ages of 28 to 32.”

Not everyone thinks this is the best path for Karnaugh. Steinbrenner says it would be better if the swimmer started practicing medicine as soon as possible.

“Ron Karnaugh is a very goal-oriented young man,” he said. “I never put anything past him. But my advice is to get in there and get on with life.”

Karnaugh says medicine is his ultimate goal, but he thinks it can wait a little longer.

“I don’t want to be forced to retire because of medicine,” Karnaugh said. “It is my priority, but I know I’ll have it for all my life. I know I can’t swim forever. It’s really difficult to retire now when I’m achieving, really hitting my peak.”