Gold was “good substitute”

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33447, 31 January 1974, Page 8

Gold was “good substitute”

It was very nearly Wendy Cook’s unlucky day at the Games swimming’ yesterday.

She failed to break the world record for 100 m backstroke, and almost lost the

gold medal for the event to her close friend and Vancouver club-mate, DonnaMarie Gurr. In a desperately close allCanadian finish, Miss Cook beat her long-standing rival by less than a fifth of a second —and only because the arm sequence was in her favour. A radiant Miss Cook pushed her damp locks into place after the race and decided that although she had missed both the world and her own Games records, a gold medal was a “pretty good substitute.’’ “The record was in my mind but, primarily, I swam to win,” she said. Her time was I.lBsec slower than her effort in the

heats; on that occasion she was only o.2osec outside the world mark. “I didn’t think I swam all that fast in my heat — I just felt good.” The 17-year-old Miss Cook did not feel as good in the final. She did not display very good pace judgment and, after leading all the way, her stroke lost its potency 25m from the end. She struggled home in ungainly fashion as Miss Gurr, who is essentially a 200 m specialist, closed on her inch by inch. The two girls’ shoulders were level as they went to the wall, but fate decreed that Miss Cook’s arm movement was half a revolution ahead of Miss Gurr’s. But the blonde Miss Gurr

was unaware of the drama. “I didn’t see her at all,” she confessed. “I thought she was miles ahead.”

The two girls have swum against each other for five years, but have no idea of the “score.” Miss Gurr, however, looks certain to gain Games revenge on Miss Cook in the 200 m event. The two Canadians were chased home by three Australians, with the bronze medal going to Linda Young, another who has shown her best form over 200 m. The New Zealand finalist, Susan Hunter, was seventh in a time a flicker faster than her effort in the heats.