I attended the 1972 NCAA championships at West Point with a competitor's pass cadged from a teammate (I was a spectator.) I walked on deck at the pool Friday night just as they were about to start the 200 Fly final. Spitz was on the block in lane 3, about 12 yards away. He touched the wall in 1:45 with the 2nd place swimmer a good 8 yards behind when Spitz finished. Insane margin in an NCAA final.
Next morning I got on the elevator at the Thayer Hotel to go down to breakfast. Spitz was the only other occupant. He was carrying a box of Uncle Sam cereal (flax seeds and other laxatives - we call them fiber now). I bought a box as soon as I got home.
Terry:
The actual time that Mark Spitz did for the 200 Yard Fly was 1:46.89, which broke the American Record that was held by Gary Hall at 1:48.44 in 1971. You are correct that he did win by about 3 seconds. What was significant about that swim is that he skipped thru the 1:47's and dropped some major time. However, I believe that the :47.98 time in the 100 Yard Fly from the same meet was just as impressive if not more so. That time stood as an NCAA/American record until Joe Bottom broke it at the 1977 NCAA meet in Cleveland with a :47.77 and this was the same meet that Joe went under :20 for the 50 Yard Free. A lot of people thought the swim by Spitz in the 100 was long over due because he set the American Record in HS at Santa Clara in 1967 at :49.1 and that time was not bettered until this meet.
Another reason why I think the 100 Fly was more impressive is because in 1974 at the NCAA Championships Robin Backhaus went 1:47.04 in the 200 Fly and missed the record by .15 and the next year in 1975 he missed it again going 1:47.16 and I remember this well because at the 1974 meet people were chanting "Fly Robin Fly" which was a popular song during that era when it was announced that he was going for the record. Steve Gregg missed the record in 1976 going 1:47.00 and finally in 1977 Mike Bruner broke the record at 1:45.24 at the NCAA meet. In fact Mike broke both of the Short Course and Lon Course records of Mark Spitz in the 200 Fly.
The first two people to go under 1:45 in the 200 Yard Fly is either Craig Beardsley or Par Ardvidsson and I am not sure which one it was but it was around the 1980 time period. Par could only get credit for the US Open Record and not the American Record because he was from Sweden.
I attended the 1972 NCAA championships at West Point with a competitor's pass cadged from a teammate (I was a spectator.) I walked on deck at the pool Friday night just as they were about to start the 200 Fly final. Spitz was on the block in lane 3, about 12 yards away. He touched the wall in 1:45 with the 2nd place swimmer a good 8 yards behind when Spitz finished. Insane margin in an NCAA final.
Next morning I got on the elevator at the Thayer Hotel to go down to breakfast. Spitz was the only other occupant. He was carrying a box of Uncle Sam cereal (flax seeds and other laxatives - we call them fiber now). I bought a box as soon as I got home.
Terry:
The actual time that Mark Spitz did for the 200 Yard Fly was 1:46.89, which broke the American Record that was held by Gary Hall at 1:48.44 in 1971. You are correct that he did win by about 3 seconds. What was significant about that swim is that he skipped thru the 1:47's and dropped some major time. However, I believe that the :47.98 time in the 100 Yard Fly from the same meet was just as impressive if not more so. That time stood as an NCAA/American record until Joe Bottom broke it at the 1977 NCAA meet in Cleveland with a :47.77 and this was the same meet that Joe went under :20 for the 50 Yard Free. A lot of people thought the swim by Spitz in the 100 was long over due because he set the American Record in HS at Santa Clara in 1967 at :49.1 and that time was not bettered until this meet.
Another reason why I think the 100 Fly was more impressive is because in 1974 at the NCAA Championships Robin Backhaus went 1:47.04 in the 200 Fly and missed the record by .15 and the next year in 1975 he missed it again going 1:47.16 and I remember this well because at the 1974 meet people were chanting "Fly Robin Fly" which was a popular song during that era when it was announced that he was going for the record. Steve Gregg missed the record in 1976 going 1:47.00 and finally in 1977 Mike Bruner broke the record at 1:45.24 at the NCAA meet. In fact Mike broke both of the Short Course and Lon Course records of Mark Spitz in the 200 Fly.
The first two people to go under 1:45 in the 200 Yard Fly is either Craig Beardsley or Par Ardvidsson and I am not sure which one it was but it was around the 1980 time period. Par could only get credit for the US Open Record and not the American Record because he was from Sweden.
