One Hit Wonders

Originally posted by Howard Kurt Krumpholz Anyone remember his one hit? IMHO, it was the fine job he did with the 2004 Olympic Trials. ...but IN the pool... In 1972, Kurt Krumpholz set the world record in the 400m freestyle in the preliminaries of the Trials only to finish sixth in the finals that evening and not make the team. His world record time was 4:00.11, set on August 4th, 1972 in Chicago. Krumpholz broke the previous record of 4:01.7 by Australia's Brad Cooper set on February 12th, 1972 in Brisbane. Krumpholz's record was broken in 1973 by Rick DeMont. DeMont's time was 3:58.18, set on September 9th, 1973 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Since then, the 400m free record has been held by Tim Shaw, Brian Goodell, Vladimir Salnikov, Peter Szmidt, Salnikov (again), Michael Gross, Artur Wojdat, Uwe Dassler, Kieren Perkins, Evgeny Sadovyi, Perkins (again), and Ian Thorpe. Thorpe first broke the record in 1999 (3:41.83), when he erased Perkins time of 3:43.80 from the 1994 Rome World Championships. Thorpe has broken the record five times, and holds the current world record, 3:40.08 set on July 30th, 2002 in Manchester, England. So, Kurt Krumpholz is in some very good company. Interestingly, he is the last person to hold the world record before the 4:00 barrier was broken. ;)

Originally posted by Swimmer Bill In a way, it's unfair to call any of these swimmers one-hit wonders because all rose through the ranks, worked their way to the top, and had several great swims along the way. In terms of the Olympics, I think Nelson Diebel is my favorite one-hit wonder. Diebel had a pretty good run, but it didn't last long. He didn't do much after he won the gold in the 100 *** at the 1992 Olympics. Diebel also won a gold on the medley relay, but I think of his 100 *** Olympic gold as an Olympic one-hit wonder. He also had a couple good "b" sides, like his 53.84 in the 100 yard *** when he was still in high school. Diebel's teammate, Royce Sharp was another Olympic one-hit wonder. After he broke the American record in the 200 back (in 1992) he failed to final in Barcelona and never returned to the Olympics...and even though he was on some great teams at Michigan, he didn't have too much international success after his AR in 1992. Diebel and Sharp attended my Almer Mater, the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, where they were part of one of the most dominant high school swimming programs in history. BJ Bedford was also on that team, as was Jim Wells and Jane Skillman. And even though he didn't have his greatest success at the Olympics, you could probably add Roque Santos to that group. His participation in Masters demonstrates longevity that is not really characteristic of a one-hit wonder. But on the international scene, Roque's crowning moment was the upset win over Barrowman in the 200 *** at the '92 trials. One last favorite one-hit wonder was Sean Killion, the former American record holder in the 800 free (and 1992 Olympian in the 1500). He held the record for several years, but only went to the Olympics once, in one event, and didn't final. When I say he "only" went to one Olympics, that is of course a little tongue in cheek! Sean and I swam on the Willingboro Country Club team, and later at Jersey Wahoos. SB I am in agreement with you that its unfair calling these swimmers one-hit wonders because again the term applies to someone that is here today, gone the next. The majority of people are no hit wonders in swimming because they never know the pressures or process to get to be a one-hit wonders. I personally know someone's son that swam with all three of the people you mention here (Diebel, Sharp, Bedford) at the Peddie School under Chris Martin and he swam with me in the early 1990's in USMS. He used to tell me all sorts of stories about these swimmers. I will comment on each swimmer. Nelson Diebel was very successfull before the 1992 Olympics winning 7 US Swimming National titles but if I remember correctly he was always getting into trouble and had disipline problems in his younger years. I remember reading an ariticle about him and the Peddie Schools swimmers back in 1990 and from I remember because of these exploits he was lucky to swimming at all. He went on to swim for Princeton but never regained the fire he had prior to the Olympics when he won the Gold medal and set an American Record. His victory over Norman Roza in the 100 *** was considered a major upset at the games because Norman was the double World Champion and favored to win. Nelson Diebel's win was the first Gold medal won in swimming for the USA at the start of the Olympics. I have to disagree with you about Royce Sharp. True he did not place in the 200 Back after winning the Olympic Trials but he said that it was a case of being nervous and never facing pressure that made him swim almost 2 seconds slower than his best time. I believe he placed 11th but refused to swim in the consolation finals because he was dissappointed at not making the finals and medaling. Therefore he denied himself a chance to place by himself. He came back from this by placing 1st in the 200 meter Back at the 1993 Pan Pacific Championships going a 1:58.86, which was only .20 slower than is American Record. In 1994 at the World Championships in Rome he placed 3rd in the 200 with a time of 1:59.21. He was going to train for the 1996 Olympics but decided he did not want to risk the time after his college eligibility was up. All during this time he contributed to the 1995 NCAA Championship while swimming at University of Michigan. BJ Bedford really struggled while trying to make the Olympic team after 4 tries. I believe she was a Gold medalist in 200 Back and a Silver medalist in the 100 Back at the 1993 Pan Pacific Championships. She was also a bronze medalist in the 1994 World Championships in the 100 Back. At the 1995 Pan American Games she was a double Gold medalist in both Backstrokes. With this success, she still came up short on her 3rd attempt to make an Olympic team. But the no hits from 3 attemps became a one hit in 2000. You can read the story linked here: www.csi.org/.../Failure.htm www.pacpubserver.com/.../bj.html Also I have to disagree with you about Sean Killion. Sean is the only American swimmer to ever defeat Vladmir Salnikov in a distance free event at major championship. In fact the only other American to defeat Sanikov was Jeff Kostoff in a 400 SCM Free at a minor meet in 1983. Sean accomplished this at the 1986 Goodwill Games in the 400 Meter Free. It was a very close and exciting race with .09 separating the two swimmers. (3:51.91 to 3:52.00). What is impressive about this is that he did it in Moscow. No other American had ever done that even though everyone was looking forward to a Brian Goodell/Vladmir Salnikov showdown that was not to be because of the boycott. Sean Killion did not make the 1988 Olympic team but came back 4 years later to make the 1992 Olympic team. He held the American Record for 15 years in the 800 LCM Free and that is one of the longest AR ever even though American distance swimming was not what it once was when we were dominating in the World Rankings in the 1970's. Read his story here: www.southjerseynews.com/.../vm030405b.htm www.courierpostonline.com/.../m070305d.htm I not sure about Rocque Santos. The only thing I remember about him besides his upset at the 1992 Olympic Trials is that he was part of probably the best workout combination of world class breastrokers when he was training with Mike Barrowman and Sergio Lopez. In fact both Barrowman and Lopez broke the World Record in the 200 *** at the 1990 Goodwill games and I believe that was the first World Record for Barrowman. All 3 of these guys training together with Yoseph Nagey in the early 1990's.

Originally posted by Howard Kurt Krumpholz Anyone remember his one hit? I hardly think of Kurt Krumpholtz has a one hit. I was there and witnessed that 400 Meter Free swim of 4:00.11 that set the World Record. What I remember is that everyone was very suprised because I believe he was ranked like 22nd or something like that. He swam in a heat in lane 7 or 2 and I remember Mike Burton was in his heat and he had to be about 4 seconds in front of him at the 200 mark. I believe he dropped his best time by 6 seconds and he beat all of the favorites that I remember like Kinsella, Burton, McConica, Tingley, Genter, Favero, Northway, and McBrean. Considering he placed 7th in the 500 at the recent NCAA Championships and in doing so lost to John Kinsella by 10 seconds (4:34.49 to 4:24.45) this was a swim out of nowhere. The fact that he could not duplicate it was not surprising to me. This happened to George Breen at the 1956 Olympics in the 1500 Free setting a World Record in qualifing but placing 3rd in the final and his prelim time would have won the gold medal. Jessica Hardy did this last year in the 100 *** in Montreal so this has happened before. So he placed 6th with his second best time. He went on from there to a great swim career being selected All American for 4 years in both Swimming and Water Polo at UCLA. The next year he got second at the World Championships in the 200 Free losing narrowly to a new an upcoming star Jim Montgomery. At the 1974 NCAA Championships he got 2nd in the 200 Free again to Jim Montgomery. He readshirted in 1975 and swam to a second place in the 800 Free Relay for UCLA in 1976. My Michigan Masters teamate, Dan Stephenson was on that relay as a freshmen at UCLA. He did all this by playing Water Polo and being part of 2 NCAA Championship teams. Today he is on the Executive Committee of USA Water Polo as Secretary. He also was involved heavily in the success of organizing the 2004 Olympic Trials in Long Beach.

I remember Sean Killion distinctly. At the time the top U.S. distance guys were people like Jeff Kostoff, George DiCarlo and Tony Corbisiero. I remember seeing Killion's American record in the 800 free and thinking "who the heck is this guy and what's he doing swimming so fast?" Of course information wasn't quite as readily available back in those days. If I didn't see it in Swimming World I didn't see it :)

Originally posted by Swimmer Bill Correct! Peter went to Peddie for one year, and he did a 4:28.16 in the 500 in high school competition. It was solid but not particularly spectacular among Peddie swimmers. Peddie teammate, Jim Wells, went 4:21.98 in the 500 that same year. Peter lived in the same neighborhood as Jason Rosenbaum and Dean Hutchinson, who were standout sprinters at the time. Both made consols in the 50 free at the ’96 Olympic Trials. Rosenbaum still holds the NJ state records in the 50 and 100. His 50 time was 20.27! Before Peter Wright went to Peddie, Delran High School had a really good free relay with those guys. Sean went 4:18.19 in the 500 while he was still at Jersey Wahoos, but I think his best time in High School was a 4:24.04 from 1986. He went 15:07.21 to win Trials, swimming for Foxcatcher, and did a 15:27.49 to finish 12th in Barcelona. Peter finished second at the Trials (15:17.96) and was the highest US finisher in the 1500 in Atlanta (12th place - 15:25.43). Bill: I was just looked up that and found Peter was only 4 seconds from Perkins in the prelims. Perkins qualified in the last spot at 8th and won from lane 8. He almost sand bagged himself out of the final because the 9th place guy was within .02 at 15:21 something. Perkins went 14:56 to win the final.

You’re right (I think). I definitely missed the “shock value” aspect of the “one-hit wonder” when I was responding. (mental note: greatest hit is not necessarily equivalent to one hit). But should swimmers who had long “careers” with only one truly singular, shining moment be excluded from the list of potential one-hit wonders? A few other names to toss out there: Jon Sieben Duncan Armstrong Danyon Loader Yevgeniy Sadovyi Kiyoko Iwasaki Daichi Suzuki Mark Tewksbury Michelle Smith Domenico Fioravanti Massimiliano Rosolino the Chinese women from the 1994 World Championships

Correct! Peter went to Peddie for one year, and he did a 4:28.16 in the 500 in high school competition. It was solid but not particularly spectacular among Peddie swimmers. Peddie teammate, Jim Wells, went 4:21.98 in the 500 that same year. Peter lived in the same neighborhood as Jason Rosenbaum and Dean Hutchinson, who were standout sprinters at the time. Both made consols in the 50 free at the ’96 Olympic Trials. Rosenbaum still holds the NJ state records in the 50 and 100. His 50 time was 20.27! Before Peter Wright went to Peddie, Delran High School had a really good free relay with those guys. Sean went 4:18.19 in the 500 while he was still at Jersey Wahoos, but I think his best time in High School was a 4:24.04 from 1986. He went 15:07.21 to win Trials, swimming for Foxcatcher, and did a 15:27.49 to finish 12th in Barcelona. Peter finished second at the Trials (15:17.96) and was the highest US finisher in the 1500 in Atlanta (12th place - 15:25.43).

Trivia: what other Jersey Wahoos swimmer went to the Olympics in the 1500? (clue: he also attended Peddie). :) Bill I think its Peter Wright. In fact he is the one in the story that did not break Sean Killion's 500 Free High School Record. I think that record is down now. I can't remember if Peter Wright placed in the consolation finals at the 1996 Olympics. I know he did not medal. For that matter I don't think the USA had anyone medal in that event for 16 years until Chris Thompson got a bronze in 2000 behind Hackett and Perkins. Of course in 1984 Mike O'Brien and George DiCarlo went for a 1-2 slam for the USA but Vladimir Salnikov was not there to make that possible.

I remember Sean as a tubby ten-year-old! He was fast then, too. I think he was setting Mid-Atlantic records when he was 10. I also remember swimming against him once in the 100m free at the summer league championships. Our summer league, the Tri-County Swimming Pool Association of South Jersey, was and still is a huge (very competitive) summer league. We both went 55's in the 100m free (SCM) but he beat me...and he was 3 or 4 years younger! He was taller, very skinny and very fast by the time he was 15. Trivia: what other Jersey Wahoos swimmer went to the Olympics in the 1500? (clue: he also attended Peddie). :) Bill

I hardly think of Kurt Krumpholtz has a one hit. I was there and witnessed that 400 Meter Free swim of 4:00.11 that set the World Record. What I remember is that everyone was very suprised because I believe he was ranked like 22nd or something like that. He swam in a heat in lane 7 or 2 and I remember Mike Burton was in his heat and he had to be about 4 seconds in front of him at the 200 mark. I believe he dropped his best time by 6 seconds and he beat all of the favorites that I remember like Kinsella, Burton, McConica, Tingley, Genter, Favero, Northway, and McBrean. Considering he placed 7th in the 500 at the recent NCAA Championships and in doing so lost to John Kinsella by 10 seconds (4:34.49 to 4:24.45) this was a swim out of nowhere. The fact that he could not duplicate it was not surprising to me. This happened to George Breen at the 1956 Olympics in the 1500 Free setting a World Record in qualifing but placing 3rd in the final and his prelim time would have won the gold medal. Jessica Hardy did this last year in the 100 *** in Montreal so this has happened before. So he placed 6th with his second best time. He went on from there to a great swim career being selected All American for 4 years in both Swimming and Water Polo at UCLA. The next year he got second at the World Championships in the 200 Free losing narrowly to a new an upcoming star Jim Montgomery. At the 1974 NCAA Championships he got 2nd in the 200 Free again to Jim Montgomery. He readshirted in 1975 and swam to a second place in the 800 Free Relay for UCLA in 1976. My Michigan Masters teamate, Dan Stephenson was on that relay as a freshmen at UCLA. He did all this by playing Water Polo and being part of 2 NCAA Championship teams. Today he is on the Executive Committee of USA Water Polo as Secretary. He also was involved heavily in the success of organizing the 2004 Olympic Trials in Long Beach. Kurt Krumpholtz a one-hit wonder?....no way. I was in the '72 Trials at Portage Park, Ill in both the 400 free and 200 fly. My 400 heat was 2-3 heats ahead of Kurt - watched his race from the locker room. Because his swim shocked the swimming world, Kurt spent the next 4-5 hours talking to the news media while everyone else went back to the hotel to rest. Kurt was dead tired in the final. My team-mate on the Lakewood Aquatic Club, Steve Genter, and the others just played with him. Kurt BTW was a better water polo player than swimmer - extremely quick. Saw Kurt last Fall at the UCLA-Cal Berkeley water polo game at the Rose Bowl. We all have aged gracefully !!