LI contestants in USA Memory Championship

Call it March Memory Madness.

About 60 "mental athletes" -- including two Long Island men -- will compete Saturday in Manhattan in the 15th USA Memory Championship, matching their little gray cells against those of others to recall numbers, poetry, names and faces, words, and the order of playing cards.

Among the participants will be Homer Smith of Elmont, who works in a doctor's office and runs a sound system installation business. A longtime fan of mentalist Harry Lorayne, Smith, 58, said, "It's fascinating, the fact you can retain so much information. You can use it to better yourself to move forward."

With today's emphasis on intellectual capability, the event can be seen as "a playing field to compete in the sport of the 21st century," said Marshall Tarley, a leadership development professional and event co-chairman. The match is being held at the Con Edison headquarters, 4 Irving Place, starting at 8:30 a.m. and is open to the public. The winner, who will be the U.S. representative at the World Memory Championship, will be announced about 4:15 p.m.

Most contenders are regular folks, not savants or specially gifted, Tarley said. Over the years participants have included sales people, musicians, software engineers, teachers, comedians and high school students.

One goal is to change people's perception of memory and how it can be improved, he said. People say " 'I have a good memory,' or 'I have a bad memory' as if it's a stagnant thing you can't do anything about," he said.

Smith said that flexing his brain power helps him with day-to-day tasks, such as remembering phone numbers and items on a shopping list. He also said that, having studied medicine 10 years ago in Mexico, a sharper memory will help as he prepares to finish medical school.

Returning Saturday for the third time will be Christian Kalinowski, 18, a senior at Farmingdale High School. He first competed when he was 12.

After the morning's challenges, eight top scorers take the stage for three additional rounds of memory gymnastics. Kalinowski said that no matter where he scores, his reward will be "satisfaction that I was able to do all my sports, schoolwork and still come and compete."

He participates in track, swimming, pole vaulting, soccer and volleyball, he said. He added that exercising his mental faculties "puts the brain power behind the physical power," helping to boost his sports performance.

"What it does for you doesn't stop with the competition," he said. "It will take you through life."