40 years of swimming world: March

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Mar 1999 by Whitten, Phillip

Swimming World, now in its 40th year of publication, has been the "Bible" of competitive swimming, chronicling the thc triumphs and foibles of the sport, its leading personalities, its technical a6',nees and its most controversial issues, Each month during 1999,SwimmingWorld looks back at some of the personalities and 6us mug om6 tei pg 'larch Is/

The third issue of Junior Swimmer featured Becky Collins (below), 15, of the Riviera Club in Indiana. The world record holder for the 100 and 200 meter fly (1:09.6 and 2:37.0), Collins was an Olympic hopeful for the Rome Games.

There was an article on starts and turns, fascinating because it illustrates vividly how much the sport has changed in four decades. The story advises: "On distances beyond 100 yards, the open turn is safer, more efficient and less difficult (than the flip turn)....Push off on top of the water. Do not hurry the turn; speed is not as essential as smoothness."

Multnomah's Carolyn Wood and Pam Sheets set NAG records in the 100 yard fly: Sheets lowered the 11-12 mark to 1:10.8, while Wood destroyed the 13-14 record with a 1:03.7. Tom Jamison of Sanger, Calif., set two 1112 NAGs: 56.9 for the 100 yard free and 2:26.7 for the 200 IM. Roy Saari set a 13-14 NAG in the 200 yard free (1:59.1) and 200 IM (2:12.8). In boys 1516, Ken Merten set a NAG in the 100 yard breast (1:08.4), while Rich McGeagh went 2:11.6 for the 200 IM.

National high school records fell to Dale Kiefer, New Trier, in the 200 IM (2:10.4) and Evanston (Ill.) H.S. in the 200 medley relay (1:44.4). 35 Years A,go: Years A: March 1964

Indiana, denied the chance to compete at NCAAs the previous three years, was picked by Swimming World to win the collegiate title over defending champ USC and perennial powers Michigan and Yale.

One article compared the training methods of Doc Counsilman, Peter Daland and George Haines. It noted that Haines had come up with an innovation for dryland training: surgical tubing. Another explained how to use a new training technique - interval training - in a 20' x 60' pool.

Looking ahead to the '64 Olympics, we saw improvement among swimmers from East and West Germany and Russia. Australia had declined since finishing second to the U.S. in 1960, though the Aussies still dominated the distance events. On the women's side, 1956 and '60 Olympic champ Dawn Fraser (right) was described as "in a niche by herself."

In Australia, 16year-old Ian O'Brien went 1:07.6 for the 100 meter breast, just 1-tenth of a second off Chet Jastremski's world record.

Cynthia Goyette broke two national marks, going 1:11.5 for the 100 yard breast and 3:12.5 for the 250, breaking one of the oldest records in the books. For some reason, in those days, women often swam 250 yards free and breast, while men went 200 yards. The distance was 200 yards for back and fly for both sexes.

Cathy Ferguson of the Los Angeles Athletic Club set a NAG record in the 15-17 girls 200 yard free, 2:03.2. Boys 15-17 NAGs were set bv Bill Utley, 400 yard IM (4:26.2) and Carl Robie, 200 fly, 1:55.6. Two national high school relay marks fell at the Illinois state champs: Hinsdale sprinted the 200 free relay in 1:29.7, while New Trier docked 3:17.2 for the 400.

25 Years Ago: March 1974

Australia dominated the Commonwealth Games, held in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Aussies won 14 old medals, 37 in all. Canada, showing strength under new coaches Don Talbot (now national team coach in Australia) and Deryk Snelling (now head coach in Britain), followed with 11 and 33.

World records were set by Canada's Wendy Cook in the 100 meter back (1:04.78), leading off her nation's winning medley relay; and by Australia's Wunderkind Steve Holland, who split a WR 8:15.88 at the 800 en route to winning the mile. Cook and Holland shared the issue's cover.

Our NCAA preview picked Indiana to win its seventh straight title. The Hoosiers were led by distance ace John Kinsella and backstroker Mike Stamm, and boasted promising freshman Jim Montgomery.

A "How They Train" article featured University of Michigan breaststroker Stu Isaac (left), former 11-12 NAG record holder. Isaac is now VP of Speedo in charge of competitive swimming.

Two articles were of interest. One raised the question of how long the skirt should be on women's suits. The rules specified "a quarter skirt must be attached (to the suit)." Another story argued that negative-splitting a race was an effective strategy to conserve energy.

George Haines was named the new head coach at UCLA, and it was announced that China would make her inaugural appearance at the Asian Games, to be held in Teheran, Iran, in September.

20 Years Ago: March 1979

Canada's (and University of California's) Graham Smith graced our cover. Smith, the world record holder in the 200 IM (2:03.25) was favored to win three events at NCAAs and was setting his sights on the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Speaking of the Russkies, their national team was training at Mission Viejo, alongside the U.S. team.

In "How An Olympic Gold Medal Almost Ruined a Young American Swimmer," The New York Times' Frank Litsky chronicled the turbulent story of Matt Vogel (left), surprise winner of the 100 fly at the 1976 Games.