IN TRAINING FOR TOKYO

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30393, 18 March 1964, Page 15

IN TRAINING FOR TOKYO

AT half past seven every morning, R. B. McGregor dives into the swimming pool at Falkirk, and works through 90 minutes of hard training. There are, he says, better ways of starting,the day. But McGregor has his eye on the Olympic swimming events at Tokyo. At 19, he is the fastest swimmer that ever lived. The shortest standard English distance for which world records are recognised is 110 yards—and he has covered two lengths of a 55 yard pool in 54 seconds. His training plan for Tokyo consists, each morning through the spring, of 1000 yards of easy swim-*

ming to warm up, then six times 200yds in about 2min lOsec, with three minute intervals. Then 250yds, using legs only, and then 20 times 50yds butterfly, ending with 1000yds arms only. He repeats this tough programme in the evenings—except when he puts in an hour’s weight-lifting as a preliminary to his hour’s swimming, three nights a week. All this—in the hopes of winning the 100 metres swim in Tokyo. “I don’t want to win by a touch in Japan,” he says, “I want to win by half a yard.” McGregor is shown above starting his early morning training.