1972 Olympics - Mark Spitz

Up to that point, Jerry was hot in the 100 Free. He split 50.78 going 3rd in the 400 Free Relay and really put the USA ahead by a very comfortable margin. Spitz swam anchor and swam a 50.91 and going into this last individual event Jerry had gone faster than Spitz in both the heats and semi finals. This was going to be his toughest race and situation was similar to when Phelps had to swim Cavic in the 100 Fly. Spitz took off and was always in the lead unlike other times where he came back on the field. One of the races they did not show was the Men's 400 IM in which Gunnar Larson and Tim McKee tied to the one hundredth of a second and had to dismantle the timing system and awarded the gold medal to Larson because his time was 2 thousands of a second faster. Since then they found this to be inaccurate and have never done this again, and have always awarded two gold medal. Since then 2 races have ended like this and those are the 1984 Women's 100 Free and the 2000 Men's 50 Free. I swam with Jerry that summer. When he went to the trials, I think he was ranked 1st in the world in the 200 free. That was his first event at the trials and he didn't make the finals. Coach Mac later said that after the race Jerry blamed only himself and committed to make the team in subsequent events. The next day, he got his first spot in the 100 fly. I remember the Larson/McKee race decision. At the time, we were told that the 'winner' could be determined by technology.

One of the races they did not show was the Men's 400 IM in which Gunnar Larson and Tim McKee tied to the one hundredth of a second and had to dismantle the timing system and awarded the gold medal to Larson because his time was 2 thousands of a second faster. I've heard this story before and I never understood why the timing system needed to be "dismantled" to get the result to the thousandth. In any event, here's a good writeup about that event: olympics.swimnewslibrary.com/.../ Swimming has now progressed to the point where the top two women this summer in London (Ye Shiwen and Liz Beisel) were faster than McKee and Larsson.

For those of you who don't know, Karen Moe Humphreys swam in those Games and won a gold medal in the 200 Fly. We are honored to have her as a member of USMS. You can see her Olympic and her Masters achievements on her USMS profile page. I knew Karen in school at UCLA (same major, and both lifeguards* on campus). She also swam in the 76 games in Montreal. As I recall, she had taken most of the next three years off after 72, then started training in earnest. She was just touched out for bronze in the 200 fly. Skip * Needless to say, Karen was "just a little bit faster" than the rest of us lifeguards. We had to swim a 400m for time periodically, maybe once a quarter. I don't remember what the time standard was (fast enough that some lifeguards had to really push to make it), but Karen seemed to just swim it easy and still finished well ahead of the rest of us. :D

I missed most of it too. It will be rebroadcast on 9/11 in the morning. 4-7 am in CA, I think. Hard to believe 40 years has passed. I am having a little champagne to celebrate! For those of you who don't know, Karen Moe Humphreys swam in those Games and won a gold medal in the 200 Fly. We are honored to have her as a member of USMS. You can see her Olympic and her Masters achievements on her USMS profile page.

Did you keep your eyes open or closed underwater? Haha, like I can remember....but I'm pretty sure open, with very red eyes after practice. Unbelievable to think of doing that now. They probably used more chlorine then, too.

I knew Karen in school at UCLA (same major, and both lifeguards* on campus). She also swam in the 76 games in Montreal. As I recall, she had taken most of the next three years off after 72, then started training in earnest. She was just touched out for bronze in the 200 fly. Skip * Needless to say, Karen was "just a little bit faster" than the rest of us lifeguards. We had to swim a 400m for time periodically, maybe once a quarter. I don't remember what the time standard was (fast enough that some lifeguards had to really push to make it), but Karen seemed to just swim it easy and still finished well ahead of the rest of us. :D Go Bruins! I wrote my thesis at the Rec Center pool in 70/71 and fooled around with the Rec swim club. I had a GF who had almost made the olympic trials in the fly and we tried some couples competition (remember?) but she was out of my league.

Haha, like I can remember....but I'm pretty sure open, with very red eyes after practice. Unbelievable to think of doing that now. They probably used more chlorine then, too. In the 70s we all swam without goggles, eyes open. I remember my eyes would burn afterward, and when I would look at lights, they would appear to have a halo around them. I also remember we would fill our goggles with tap water and put our eyes in them to try to wash out the chlorine. It stung, but it did seem to help (perhaps just by making our eyes tear?) Ah, memories.

Haha, like I can remember....but I'm pretty sure open, with very red eyes after practice. Unbelievable to think of doing that now. They probably used more chlorine then, too. I was an age-grouper with no goggles one summer I swam with eyes open. I remember seeing haloes around lights for most of the summer. That could not have been good for my eyes.

For those of you who don't know, Karen Moe Humphreys swam in those Games and won a gold medal in the 200 Fly. We are honored to have her as a member of USMS. You can see her Olympic and her Masters achievements on her USMS profile page. She was also just inducted (last night) into the ASCA Hall of Fame for her coaching excellence at Cal! I think you're due a couple of glasses of champagne, Karen!

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Mark Spitz winning his 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. A story is posted here www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../31884.asp To celebrate this accomplishment ESPN Classic TV station is showing all of the USA Gold medal winning swimmers today including all of Mark Spitz's races. Its on right now and will be on tonight. Its on for about 3 hours. Whats interesting is to see the suits, no goggles, and basically no underwater swimming on either the starts or the turns. I missed most of it too. It will be rebroadcast on 9/11 in the morning. 4-7 am in CA, I think. Hard to believe 40 years has passed. I am having a little champagne to celebrate! Thanks Frank (Skip) Thompson for starting this thread and posting the synopsis too (haven't heard many of those names in a long time) and thanks Karen for the heads-up on the rebroadcast tomorrow morning -- Congrats on your fanatastic swim. Hope to find it and record on the DVR. I'm really looking forward to watching this. As i read throguh Skip's synopsis, i couldn't help but think about how slow and inconsistent swimming news was communicated. I suppose for swimmers at the elite level and attending national meets, what was going on was evident. But, for the rest of us middle-of-the-pack swimmers, there was only one publication at least on the east coast (i forget the name) that came out about bi-monthly or quatrterly with some meet results;it was the only communciation of what was going on. Kevin and Eric Tillman's Dad (from around Rye, NY and both very good swimmers) may have been invoved with publishing it (i'm not for sure). Seems to me it was hand-typed and/or mimeo'd, staple-bound, and mailed. What a difference 40 years has made in what we can see and learn and how fast that happens.