ANOTHER RECORD-BREAKING DAY, BUT... N.Z. swimming still long way from world class

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33010, 1 September 1972, Page 6

ANOTHER RECORD-BREAKING DAY, BUT... N.Z. swimming still long way from world class

New Zealand’s swimming standards have come a long way in the last few years, but they have a very long way to go yet before they 7 approach world class.

When the letters “a.m.” are used in swimming circles, they must nowstand for “after Munich,” such has been the revelation these Games have provided.

Before these games started, the Olympic marks as they then stood did not appear to be too far out of the reach of New Zealand’s top swimmers. But now it must be back to the drawing board. Only one of the New Zealand swimmers has been eliminated from Olympic competition and two of them still appear to have a moderate chance of reaching at least the semi-finals. However, on the standard being displayed in the Olympic Swimming Hall, they cannot hope to go further unless they are able to summon up an effort that will chop their best personal time by a big margin. Computer needed The fall of records has been phenomenal, and after the first three days one of the Olympic computers might be needed to list the number of Olympic and world marks that have been set only to be broken in subsequent races of the same competition. Three of the four gold medals that were won yesterday went to new world performances, and the fourth was in new Olympic time. This was the medal that the Swede, Gunnar Larsson, won by two-thousandths of a second from Tim McKee (United States). The slow motion television replay could not decide the winner, but the electronic timing which is accurate to one ten-thousandth of a second was able to do it. Larsson won in 4min 31.9815ec; McKee’s time was 4min 31.9835ec. As a contrast, the New

Zealander, J. P. McConnochie, who swam second to Larsson in a heat, has a personal best for the distance of 4min 47.35 e—a mark he failed to reach in his first Olympic swim. An even greater contrast between New Zealand and world standards is provided by the best time of Miss J. M. Parkhouse for 400 metres freestyle and the winner of the gold medal, Shane Gould. Miss Parkhouse swam 4min 40.245ec in her heat. The 15-year-old Sydney girl’s medal-winning time was 4min 19.045 e—and that would have won the men’s 400 metres at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 and the silver at Rome four years later.

Great champion In the semi-final of the women’s 400 metres, it appeared as though Miss Gould’s golden bubble might have burst as she appeared almost sluggish winning her heat in 4min 28.465ec — well under the old Olympic mark but still one of the slowest qualifying times for the day. However, this did not worry her, and in what was surely the most tremendous swim by a woman competitor she proceeded to show just what a great champion she is. Miss Gould led from the starting block and swam virtually the whole distance against the clock, with the others in her wake. An indication of the class of the field was that all eight finalists comfortably broke the 1968 Olympic record, but only Miss Gould swam through the old world mark which she had set herself.

By the end of the first 50 metres, Miss Gould led by half a length; she had increased it to well over a

length at 100 metres, which she covered in Imin I.sosec. By the end of 200 metres, in 2min 7.o4sec. she was five seconds ahead of her nearest rival. Up with clock The electronic scoreboard includes in its information the times needed on the “splits” if a world record is to be broken. The crowd could see she was well within this limit, and for the final 200 metres of her swim Miss Gould was urged on by a deafening, encouraging roar. The Italian girl. Novella Calligaris, who had earlier won the heat in which Miss Parkhouse had swum, setting an Olympic record in the process, finished second with Gudrun Wagner (East Germany) third. The second world record went to the American girls’ relay team which won the 4 x 100 metres race. It was the most exciting held in Munich to date. For much of it the Americans were trailing West Germany—and this gave the crowd the cause for more jubilation. The East Germans were also up with the leaders, and it was not until the final few strokes that the brilliant young Shirley Babashoff managed to get her nose in front. East Germany was second and West Germany third. 3sec cut-off The world record of 3min 58.1 sec had been set by the East Germans in their morning heat; the Americans rewrote it, at 3min 55.195ec. The Japanese National Anthem was heard for the first time in the swimming pool when the little Nobutaka Taguchi won the men’s 100 metres breaststroke. Taguchi was several metres behind the leaders at the turn but with superb stroking gradually edged his way to the lead, in a world record time of Imin 4.945ec. Taguchi had set the previous mark himself in his semifinal the previous day.