Olympic flashback

This is the seventh in a series chronicling the history of swimming in the Olympic Games from Athens in 1896 all the way through Atlanta in 1996.

1976

[Monheal. Canada] Counies: 92

Athletes: 6,085 [4,834 men: 1.251 women)

Events: 198

Swimming Events: 26 [13 men's and 13 women's]

Top Medal-winning Nations:

USSR 125 [49 gold-41 silver-35 bronze]

United States 94 [34-35-29]

East Germany 90 [40-25-25]

Coach "Doc" Counsilman was on a mission. When the U.S. men's swim team landed in Canton, Ohio for Olympic training camp, Counsilman challenged the team with a nearly impossible task: win all 13 gold medals. Even with the greatest assemblage of talent ever on a men's Olympic swim team, it was an almost ludicrous goal. Remarkably, the men came close, taking home gold in 12 of

13 events, including 11 world records.

The men set the tone in the very first event when Mike Bruner, Steve Gregg and Billy Forrester beat East German world record holder Roger Pyttel in the 200 fly for the first of four 1-2-3 U.S. sweeps. They went on to finish 1-2 in nine of 11 individual races and to win 25 of a possible 33 individual medals.

John Naber, the brightest star of the men's team, gives Counsilman much of the credit for the men's astounding success: "He challenged us to win every gold medal, and he challenged us to encourage each other. The atmosphere became mutually supportive, and we pulled together as a team." Naber's final medal total was four golds and a silver. He set world records in both backstrokes (55.49 and 1:59.19) and was touched out by American Bruce Furniss (1:50.29-1:50.50) in the 200 free. Naber also led the 4 x 100 medley relay and 4 x 200 freestyle realy teams to gold medals and world records.

One of the most hotly contested races was the 1500 meter free, with American distance greats Bobby Hackett and Brian Goodell matching up against Australia's Steve Holland. The threesome went stroke for stroke for nearly the entire race, but Goodell came home in the final 100 in a blisteringly fast 57.73 to win gold in 15:02.40. Hackett finished second, touching out Holland for the U.S. 1-2 sweep.

The specter of the East German team hung over the women's swimming events. The East German women burst on the scene at the World Championships in 1973, suprising the world with their performances-and their muscular bodies and deep voices. While many coaches and athletes kept their suspicious to themselves, American star Shirley

Babashoff entered the fray without fear, convinced that the East Germans were cheating. Many viewed her concerns as sour grapes, and she was dubbed "Surly Shirley" by the press.

Babashoff had an incredibly successful Olympics, taking home three individual silver medals (200, 400 and 800 freestyles), all in American recordtime, along with relay gold and silver. But her successes were overshadowed by the East Germans. Swimmers such as Americans Wendy Boglioli and Karapick Moe Thornton and Canadians Cheryl Gibson and Nancy Garapick were were also denied gold by East German women.

One group that would not be denied was the American 4 x 100 free relay team of Kim Peyton, Wendy Boglioli, Jill Sterkel and Shirley Babashoff. In the last and most memorable race of the meet, Herculean efforts by the four Americans brought home a gold medal and new world record, nearly four seconds faster than the previous East German record.

It was later revealed by Swimming World that the East German state-run sports program systematically doped all of its top swimmers. The fight to restore the medals to their rightful winners, led by Swimming World, continues.

1980

[MOSCOW, USSR]

Countries: 81

Atheletes: 5,326 [4,238 men; 1,08 women]

Events: 204

Swimming Events: 26 [13 men's and 13 women's]

Top Medal-winning NAtions

USSA 195 [80-69-46]

East Germany 126 [47-37-42]

Bulgara 41 [8-16-17]

The 1980 Moscow Olympics were the first Olympics to be held in a Communist country, and are now best remembered for the 56-nation American-led boycott (see sidebar on page 18), which had a tremendous impact both on the perception of the Games and in the pool. Greats including Tracy Caulkins, Rowdy Gaines, Sippy Woodhead and Mary T. Meager were at home in the U.S., and the competition suffered as a result.

After the 13 men's events saw 12 world records in Montreal, the Moscow Games saw only one men's world record-in the men's 1500 free. Distance ace Vladimir Salnikov delighted the home crowd by becoming the first man under tes in the 1500 freestyle Salnikov also swam to gold 400 free (3:51.31) and as part of Soviet men's 4 x 200 free relay.

The Soviet men took greatest advantage of the absence of the Americans and swimmers from the other boycotting nations. After winning just one individual bronze in Munich and just two individual bronze medals in Montreal, the Soviets in Moscow captured six individual golds, six silvers and three bronzes, including a 1-2-3 sweep of the 400 free.

The women's side saw the continued dominance of the East Germans, who took home gold in nine of the 11 individual events and in both of the relays. The dominance was particularly apparent in the freestyle and backstroke events, where the East Germans took home 17 of a possible 18 medals.

In the 800 free, Australian Michelle Ford broke the East German stranglehold and swam her way to an Olympic record and gold medal in 8:28.90. Soviet Lina Kachushite led a 12-3 Soviet sweep of the 200 breaststroke by winning in Olympic record time (2:29.54).

1984

[Los Angeles, California]

Countries: 140

Atheletes: 6,797 [5,230 men; 1,567 women]

Events:221

Swiming Events:29 [15 men's and 14 women's]

Top Medal-winning Nations

United States 174 [83-61-30]

West German 59 [17-19-23]

Romania [20-16-17]

After an eight-year absence, the U.S. was headed back to the Summer Games. And, after a 52-year absence, the Summer Games were headed back to the U.S. For the first time ever, the Olympics were a privately funded event, with commercial sponsorship taking the place of public funding.

With the absence of the East Germans due to the Soviet-led boycott (see sidebar on page 18), the U.S. women had their first opportunity since 1972 to dominate the medal platforms. Nancy Hogshead, who had been denied in 1980 because of the boycott, demonstrated her versatility by winning three golds and one silver in events ranging from the 100 free to the 200 IM and both relays.

There is still joy in her voice when she recalls the Games: "There's a certain magic about the Olympicsyou're really a part of history." Her place in history is especially well-known because of the result of the 100 free, when she and fellow American Carrie Steinseifer had the first gold-medal tie in Olympic swimming history, with both swimmers touching in 55.92.

Hogshead would probably have had another medal in the 200 fly, but she suffered an asthma attack during the race. She has since become a spokesperson for asthmatics and the American Lung Association.

Other great names from U.S. swimming history etched their names in Olympic history. Tracy Caulkins, often regarded as the greatest female swimmer ever, won gold in both IMs (2:12.64 and 4:39.24), winning the longer distance by over nine seconds! Mary T. Meagher, the best butterflyer ever, won both fly events in Olympic record time.

In one sense, the lack of an East German women's team made the swimming competition the fairest since 1972. On the men's side, the boycott prevented Vladimir Salnikov from defending his 400 and 1500 titles, but most of the great men's swimmers were there.

Perhaps the biggest story on the men's sideboth in terms of public interest and physical size-was the all-around performance of West Germany's Michael Gross, nicknamed the "Albatross" for his 7-6 wingspan. Gross beat existing world record holder Pablo Morales in the 100 fly in 53.08, setting a new record, and then dropped his own world record in winning the 200 free (1:47.44).

Gross also played a starring role in one of the most exciting races of these Games. The men's 4 x 200 free realy came down to anchors Bruce Hayes of the U.S. and Gross. Hayes had a 1.56-second lead at the start, but by the 100 meter mark, the swimmers were even, and then Gross began to push ahead. With the 15,000 fans in the stadium screaming, Hayes fought back to touch out Gross, who had swum the fastest 200 split ever (1:46.80). The U.S. team set a new world record, breaking the old mark by over five seconds.

There were two other individual double winners on the men's side: Canadian Alex Baumann, who earned the title of the world's best all-around swimmer by winning both IMs in world record time (2:01.42 and 4:17.41); and American Rick Carey, who won both backstrokes and contributed to the world record set by the men's 4 x 100 medley relay team, which included household names such as Steve Lundquist, Pablo Morales and Rowdy Gaines.

Copyright Sports Publications, Inc. Aug 2000
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