Nine Gold Medals To U.S. At Swimming

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29301, 5 September 1960, Page 8

Nine Gold Medals To U.S. At Swimming

ROME, September 3.

The United States capped its finest post-war swimming Olympics tonight by winning two more gold medals and setting one more world record at the end of the Rome Olympic swimming events. The Americans finished the week with nine gold medals to Australia’s five.

America’s woman back-stroke star, Lynn Burke, opened the final night by winning the 100 metres back-stroke final in Imin O9.3sec. The American women’s 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay team finished it by winning its gold medal in a world record time of 4min 08.9sec—0.2sec inside the previous world record held by Australia. The excitement of the relay finale to the “American week” in Rome almost overshadowed J. Konrads’s brilliant win in the 1500 metres freestyle. Konrads clocked 17<nin 19.6 sec, with Australia's 400 metres gold medallist.

M. Rose, second in 17min 21.7 sec, only 10ft away from repeating his 400-1500 metres Melbourne Olympics double. Konrads set a new Olympic retitle after years of world recordbreaking when he scored a fine win in the 1500 metres freestyle. Konrals set a new Olympic record in winning by a length from Rose, who held the old record <l7min 32.8 sec). . G. Breen, of America, was third (17min 30.6 sec) and Japan’s T. Yamanaka was fourth in 17min 34.75ec. Konrads swam a brilliant race, going into the lead on the approach to the 1050 metre turn,

The American team was J Spillane, S. Stobs, C. Wood and C. von Saltza.

and leading from there to the finish. Rose tried in vain to catch his compatriot over the last 100 metres, but a week of racing—and winning—proved too much for him. Konrads laid a real claim to Olympic fame after four years of training. America’s girls won the last gold medal of the Olympic swimming when they took the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay and beat Australia’s world record set at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.