Swimming superpower

Press, 22 July 1976, Page 30

Swimming superpower

NZPA staff corres Montreal

It is still the United States all the way at the Olympic Pool as the men’s swimming superpower continues to sweep all the gold medals. Not even Australia’s superstar, Steve Holland, could stop the Americans. Holland was swept aside in the 1500 m freestyle, relegated to a bronze medal as the United States finished first and second with Brian Goodell and Bobby Hackett. Forget about any Australian gold medals in the pool now. Holland was the only man with a chance, and in his own words he “blew it.”

Nothing can stand in the wav of the East German

women. They added another gold medal through Petra Thumer in the 400 m freestyle, making it four golds in four finals.

The American men have five golds in five finals, and now look fairly certain to scoop the lot. Holland went close to

punctuating the American sequence. He reached the lead after 900 m with a beautiful surge of power, and it looked as though the Australian gold-medal dream had come true.

Not so. Hackett stuck to him, instead of dying away as Holland had expected,

churning away just behind the Australian's pace; and right behind him was Goodell, executing his race plan to the stroke. At 1100 m, Goodell started to go, and Hackett felt him push up and started to surge as well.

“I thought I had left Steve out there too long,” said Goodell later. “A voice inside my head kept telling me that 1 was too late, that Holland was too far in front.

“But 1 kept going, and gradually he started to come back to me.”

Trophy won at Bisley.—Vem Curtis, of Nelson, won the Palma Aggregate Challenge. Trophy, one of the major longrange awards, at the Bisley rifle meeting in England yesterday.