H3>Cuban Swimmers Plan To Defect to US

.c The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Two Cuban swimmers who disappeared from a Puerto Rican training camp appeared on television Thursday night, saying they planned to defect to the United States.

Nubis Rosales and Daimara Munoz, members of Cuba's national women's swimming team, were interviewed by WLII-Channel 11. The athletes were accompanied by Sergio Ramos, a lawyer known for helping Cubans apply for asylum.

The swimmers disappeared Tuesday from camp in Vega Baja, about 20 miles west of San Juan.

``It was difficult to do. I left my mother, my sister,'' Rosales said. ``I didn't talk about my decision with my family or anyone. I did it because I wanted to be here, free.''

Munoz, who is divorced, said she left a 2-year-old daughter in Cuba.

Both women were gold-medal winners in the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games. They were among 27 Cuban swimmers training for this month's Goodwill Games as guests of the Puerto Rico Swimming Federation.

AP-NY-07-02-98 2117EDT