Here is a topic that I have often wondered about over the years. We all know of the swimmers that make the Olympics and gain national and international attention as a result. The swimmers that I often think of are those that for one reason or another, missed the Olympic team but may have been dominant in college or at a national level.
Here are a few names that come to mind to kick this thing off. John Trembley, head coach at the University of Tennesee and former swimmer there, also has got to have the biggest calves in the history of the sport!. Talk about a great flyer and a dominant force in the NCAA in the early 70's! From stories that I heard, he was major competition for Mark Spitz in college, even beat him on occasion. Any more input on JT's college career would be most appreciative. I attended his camps at Mercersberg Academy in Pa when I was in high school, those were great days.
John Trembley brings to mind another phenom swimmer in Andy Cohen. Devastating sprinter, I believe the first to break the 20 second plateau, he was the man. Unfortunately he was in a serious car accident in college and broke both wrists! After healing he tried swimming again but re-broke them on a start and had to start all over. I believe he tried for the 84 games but his range of motion in his hands was so limited it was detrimental to his stroke and he just missed. Rowdy Gaines wouldn;t be where he is today if it wasn't for Andy's misfortune.
The third and final swimmer that comes to mind was a guy that I watched when I first got started and a few grades ahead of me at a rival high school. Wade King was amazing in high school and swam the 100 fly in 50.00 back in 1985! I was competing at the meet and in all my swimming experiences I never witnessed anything like that swim. The crowd was in shock as he ripped through the pool, absolutely dominating. I was coached by his dad in summer league, crazy guy with a "You can't lick our Cocks" bumper sticker. Wade went on to South Caroline and had a great collegiate career but just missed th Olympics. He was a dominant swimmer in the NCAA's but when it came to Olympic qualifying he was always a brides maid and never a bride.
So there are a few of my favorite swimmers that the world was cheated out of knowing. They are some of my all time favorites. Any memories on these three guys or new additions are most welcome.
John Trembly graduated in 1970 from Shaker HS in NY. In 1970, he set a National High School Record in the 50 Yard Free of :20.70 and the previous record was held by David Edgar from Fla. at :21.20. He also had the fastest HS time in the 100 Yard Fly at :50.5 and the National HS Record at that time was :49.1 by Mark Spitz set back in 1967. David Edgar had the American Record in 1970 in the 50 Free at :20.5 swimming for Tennessee. John went to Tennessee and they had the best 1-2 combination of sprinters in the country.
David Edgar won the NCAA Championship in the 50 and 100 Free for 3 straight years (1970 - 1972) and set an American Record of 44.50 in 1971 which lasted 4 years. John Trembly was 3rd in 71, 2nd in 72, and 1st in 73 and 74 in the NCAA in the 50 Free. At the 1972 NCAA in the 50 Free they had one of the closest races in history. John's time in the prelims was :20.301 to David's 20.310 but in the finals its David at :20.442 to John's:20.460. They both shared the American Record at :20.30 that year.
Both swimmers swam at the 1972 Olympic Trials. Unfortunately for them the 50 Meter Free was not an event in the Olympics and didn't appear until 1988. David Edgar qualified for the Olympic team in 2 events at trials, the 100 Fly which he took 2nd to Mark Spitz and the 100 Free which he took 4th missing the individual event but qualifing for the 400 Free Relay which took the gold medal. He ended up taking 5th in the Olympic 100 Fly. John Trembly missed making the 1972 Olympic team by .02 hundreths in the 100 Fly taking 4th. In the 100 Free trials he took 10th.
At the 1973 NCAA Championship meet, John Tembly was the star of the meet winning 3 individual events (50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly) and 2 relays (400 Free - 400 Medley) with one setting the American Record 400 Free. In 1974 he closed out his college career winning two individual events (50 Free, 100 Fly) and taking 2nd in the 100 Free to Joe Bottom. His time in the 50 Free of :20.06 was an American Record. I believe he retired from competitve swimming in 1974.
Which brings us to the 3rd Tennessee sprint star Andy Coan. In 1974, as a 10th grader in HS went :20.6 in the 50 and :45. 85 both National Prep School Records. In 1975 as a junior in HS set an American Record in the 100 Free at :43.99 swimming for Pinecrest Prep school breaking David Egar's record which stood for 4 years. Also he had the second fastest time in history in the 50 Free at :20.19 right behind John Trembly which was a National Prep school record. He had a great AAU season winning the 1975 100 Free at Short Course Nationals and qualifing for the World Championship team. His high point was at the WC meet which he won the gold medal and set a World Record in the 100 Meter Free. In 1976 his times were slower in both SC and LC and he failed to final at the Olympic Trials taking 9th in the 100 meter Free missing making the final by .01 hundreth of a second. His time of :51.85 was almost a second slower than in 1975.
He had a great career at Tennessee. In 1978 he won 2 individual events (50 and 100 Free) and the 400 Free Relay in helping Tennessee win the NCAA Championship. In 1979 at the NCAA he won 2 individual events (100 and 200 Free) setting American Records in the process and was upset by Rowdy Gaines in the 50 Free. His times in the 100 was :43.25 and the 200 was 1:35.62. That spring he had the fastest times in the country for the 50, 100, and 200 Free and looked like a sure bet to make the 1980 team.
Shortly after the 1979 NCAA meet he got into that car accident and broke both wrists and suffered a hairline fracture of the right kneecap. The doctors said he would never swim again. He was in the hospital for 3 months and had like 9 operations to put screws, pins, and plates in his hand. After being out of competiton for a year he went to the 1980 NCAA and won the 50 Free. After that meet and with the Olympic boycott he retired from swimming.
I believe that those 3 men were the greatest sprinters in the 70's from one school. Ray Bussard, the Tennessee coach has said that if there was a 50 Free in the Olympics, one of those guys if not all of them would have won a gold medal. All of them held records and titles at the HS, AAU, and Collegiate levels. They were probably better Short Course swimmers and that is probably why they did not have the international success that matched their national success.
Wade King was from the Bay City area and I do remember him and his dad. He was an excellent 100 Flyer taking 5th at the 1988 Olympic trials behind the company of Biondi, Mortensen, Morales, and Melvin Stewart. He was also 2nd at the NCAA in 1989 in the 100 Fly. I also heard that his family was involved in a team to build an aquatic center on the campus of Saginaw Valley. Unfortunately they have a great 50 meter facility but don't use it for competitive swimming anymore.
Wade King swims masters now in South Carolina and won all of the 50 Fly events (SCY, SCM, LCM) in 2002 in the 35-39 age group and the 50 Fly SCY in the 30-34 age group. I don't think David Edgar, John Trembly, and Andy Coan have ever swam masters.
When Wade King got 2nd in the 100 Fly at both the 1988 and 1989 NCAA Championships it was Jay Mortenson that got 1st both times. He also won the 100 Back in 1988 for a rare double. Sam, you are absolutely correct that he made the 88 team in both 100 Back and 100 Fly. He was the last guy until Michael Phelps did it this year to qualify and make the team in Fly and Back. Great swimmer. Maybe you can get him to swim a masters meet. Tell him Wade King is swimming. Maybe he might try.
He was an excellent 100 Flyer taking 5th at the 1988 Olympic trials behind the company of Biondi, Mortensen, Morales, and Melvin Stewart
Jay Mortensen from Stanford was 2nd at '88 Olympic Trials in 100 fly. He was the one who out touched Morales to take the spot behind Biondi. Also was 2nd to Dave Berkoff in 100 Back at that meet.
Not trying to be nitpicky or anything, just work with the guy and consider him a friend. He deserves credit for puliing off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic Trial history. Of course Morales had an incredible comeback in 1992 to erase that heartbraking loss in '88.
Wayne, you must be talking about Jonty Skinner from South Africa that swam for Don Grambril at the University of Alabama. In August 1976, swam in the AAU LC Nationals in Philadelphia and set a World Record in the 100 Meter Free in :49.44. He broke the record that was set about a month before by Jim Montgomery at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in a time of :49.99. That record lasted from 1976 until 1981 when Rowdy Gaines broke it in 1981 with a time of :49.36. He won the 100 Yard Free at the 1975 NCAA Championships in a time of :43.92 which was an NCAA and US Open Record. He did not get the American Record because he was not a US citizen and it was still held by Andy Coan at :43.99.
I remember reading an article in either Sports Illustrated or Swimming World about him trying to aquire citizenship in the US. South Africa, due to its racial policies did not compete in the Olympics and did not plan to in 1976. Politics played a major role in that country's athletic programs and this became a problem of both governments from a diplomacy standpoint. His family still lived in SA and he did not want his family punished in any way because of this. SA did not want to set a precedent for future athletes with a favorable decision. He even said that if he could not get US citizenship he would swim for a country that would let him and he even talked of swimming for Canada. He just wanted the chance to swim in the 1976 Olympics.
It turned out that the US or any country did not want to get into an international controversy and he did not gain citizenship. So he had to watch from the sidelines. He won 4 straight AAU National Titles from 1976 to 1978 (76, 77 LC, 77, 78 SC) and it would have been interesting for him to swim against Montgomery, Joe Bottom, and Jack Babashoff. He was inducted into the ISHOF in 1986. He was a force in swimming back then and still is today.
He was the USS/USA Swimming Resident Team Coach from 1994 until 2000 and was responsible for coaching some of the best swimmers in the USA. Before that he was an Assistant and then Head Coach of both the Women's and Mens teams at Alabama. Right now he coordinates all of the testing tracking and assessment of the National Team athletes. He organizes the technical support for National Team Coaches and Swimmers at National and International competitions. He was also a successful Club coach for San Jose Aquatics. His teams won 1 National and 6 Junior National Team Titles.
He had swimming book published with Don Grambril back in 1989 called "Tide Team Work". His contribution was in applying computer techniques to workouts for different swimmers. He would break down the energy system, work description, and yardage. I believe the book is out of print now.
There are a host of great swimmers who missed out on fame and fortune due to the 1980 boycott. Sippy Woodhead and Tracy Caulkins would've brought home more hardware from Moscow than the juiced up East German and Russian gals combined. Hard to imagine that Carter could've screwed up international sports diplomacy any worse.
Originally posted by gull80
What about Gary Schatz who missed out on the Olympics because of the boycott in 1980?
Glenn Mills (breaststroker) is another swimmer who missed out because of the boycott.
Gosh, when we talk about GREAT swimmers who missed out on the boycotted Olympics we have to mention the 200 Backstroke SCM WR Holder Marc Forman who swam at TN on NCAA Championship teams.
