Swim Canada - January 1996 (No.214)

44 Pages·1996·6 MB·English

by  Thierry, Nick

214
CANADA
JANUARY 1996
DOUBLE
GOLD MEDAL
E
AT DIO SHORT
COURSE WORLD
JOANNEMALAR, WON400MINDIVIDUAL MEDLEYANDANCHORED WINNING4X200FREt RELAY

1 .
CALENDAR DIGEST
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23-25 CIAUChampionships,Guelph 30-2 EastCoastChamps,SaintJohn,NB Hercareerasanathletebroughtsevengold,three
March July silverandtwobronzemedals in majorGames. She
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NewmarketInvitational 20-26 OlympicGamesSwimmin,Atlanta breaststroketitlesatthesametime.
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Man/SaskProvincials,Saskatoon NATIONALAGEGROUPRECORDS monwealthgoldsin 1962.
UCSCSeniorInvitational,Calgary For her outstanding athletic career she was
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April Boys 11-12 400 metres freestyle: 4:15.89 Yearin 1960and 1962.
30-5 MaritimeLifeOlympicTrials,Montreal
Chuck Sayao, TOMAC, Mississauga, Oct.28. Bet- AnitaismarriedtoformerBritishOlympiccyclist
6 EtobicokePentathlon
19-21 Grinter-WaltonInvitational,Brantford tersoldrecordof4:18.52JamieWhite,LAC, 1990 HughPorter,whowontheworldprofessionalpursuit
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HalifaxInvitational Boys 11-12200metresbackstroke:2:16.39 hisM.B.E. in 1973-
25-28 EdmontonKeyanoInternational Chuck Sayao, TOMAC, Mississauga, Oct.27. Bet- Anita's professional career includesswimming
26-28 BrockSeniorInvitational,St.Catharines ters old record of 2:16.83 Keith Barrett, HWAC, correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, and com-
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HerfirstcontributionsareontheFINAExtraor-
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AnitaLonsbrough,England,PatriciaYoung,HongKong 5 F1NAExtraordinaryCongress
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SWIM CANADA/JANUARY 1996 3
COCA-COLA WORLD SHORT CHAMPIONSHIPS
II
STRIKING GOLD IN RIO
JOANNE MALAR
TWO
LEADS CANADIANS WITH GOLDS
RIODEJANEIRO—JoanneMalarhadtwogold
medals after the first day ofswimming at the
SecondCocaColaWorldShortCourseChampi-
onships.Itwastobethehighlightofasuccessful
Canadianteamthatwonsevenmedals,placing
fourthoverall.
The 12-member Canadian team of nine
women and three men were ready and. with
everyone's personal coach on deck (except
Guylaine Cloutier's coach Stephane Bedard).
personalattentionmusthavehelped.
The championship venue, was a portable
temporarycomplexthatincludedaracingpool
and a separate warm-up tank with surround
seatingforover8.000spectators.Erectedonfamed
CopacabanaBeach,itwastrulyspectacular.The
costwas U.S.$750,000andtheoverallchampi-
onshipsbudgetwasjustoveronemilliondollars.
CocaColathemeetsponsor,pickedupmostof
thecosts,allowingforfreespectatorentry.
Otherhighlights:
Australiawon the championshipswith 26
medals(12-7-7).
Four women's world records were estab-
lished:
• TwobySamanthaRiley.AUS.inthe 100
j
and200breast
• China'sLiminLiuinthe200butterfly
•CostaRica'sfirsteverwithClaudiaPoll's
200free
TheCanadianwomenwonthegoldinthe
4x200 free relay, beatingperennial rivals Aus-
traliabyalmostthreeseconds.
NewZealandwonthemen's4x100medlev
relay,andbeatAustraliaforthefirsttimeever.
Americanswimmerspickedup threemed-
als,oneoftheirpooresteverinternationalshow-
ings.TheyonlydecidedtoattendinlateSeptem-
*... Hii"*M* " ber and none of the leading swimmers were
interested, as the U.S. Olympictrialswill be in
Aerial view: ThespectacularsiteforthechampionshipsonfamedCopacabanaBeach FoloDimension! earlyMarch.
RiodeJaneiroBRA
SWIM CANADA/JANUARY 1996
2
Withashortcourseworldchampionshipssched-
NEW RULES
uledeverytwoyears,it'sstillnotattractingtheworld's
verybestswimmers.TwooftheverybestwereinRio
butdidn'tperform.
VeteranAndersHolmertz,SWE,camedownsick
justbeforethestartofthemeetandspenthistimein
Rioinbedathishotel. FINA EXTRAORDINARY MEDICAL CONGRESS
Franziskavan Almsick, GER, wasejectedfrom
thefinalofthe100freeforwhatwasdeemedtobean FOUR YEAR RAN FOR STEROID USE APPROVED
intentionalfalsestart.Shewasano-showinthe200
free,losingherworldrecord.Shedidswimrelays,but
hertwo-weekboutwiththeflupriortocomingtoRio AnitaLonsbrough
leftherunpreparedforthelevelofthecompetition.
Canadiansbetterednationalrecordsinfiveevents, TheFINAExtraordinaryCongress, heldpriorto theSecondWorldShort CourseChampionships in Riode
two individual and threewomen's relays, with the Janeiro, was called to considerand discusssome ofthe manydrug issues thatconcern most ofthe FINA
medleyrelayintheheatsandagaininthefinals. members.
HeadcoachDaveJohnsonwaspleasedas11of1 JohnDevitt,theI960Olympic100mfreestylechampion,eloquentlyproposed,onbehalfofAustralia,that
swimmershadatleastonepersonalbesttimeand10 thetwoyearbanforindividualathletestestingpositiveforanabolicandrogenicsteroidsbeincreasedtofour
out of the 12 team members came home with a yearstoincludeanOlympicGames.Thecongress,whichwaswellattended,passedthemotionsecondedby
medal. GreatBritain,withamajorityof20to 1>Thoserefusingtosubmittoadopingtestwillreceiveatwoyearban.
Inbothcases,allrecordsandmedalswoninaperiodupto 12months
priortotheoffensecanbedeclarednull andvoid.
However,thegatheringdidnotagreetothesanctionsproposedfor
Federations. The proposal was "any drug abuse in a period of 12
monthsfromthefirstoffenseinvolvinganabolicandrogenicsteroids
within the jurisdiction of a Member federation shall result in an
automaticsanctionoftheMemberasfollows:
Secondoffense—fineUS$10,000
Thirdoffense——fineUS$30,000
Fourthoffense suspensionforaperiodof24months.
These sanctionsshall only be applied ifthe offenses have been
committedinthesamediscipline."
Although thisproposal did not gothrough, it hasbeendeferred
untilAtlanta,whenFederationswillhavehadmoretimetoconsiderthe
issue.
FINAhasincreaseditseffortstoshowtheworldthatitismaking
attemptstostampoutdrugabuseinswimmingbytakingstepstocam
outout-of-competitiontests. Federationsareaskedtosubmitaprovi-
sional listofcompetitorswhowillbetakingpart inthe 1000Olympic
GamesinAtlanta.This,togetherwithpreviousattempts, istotryand
makesureeveryonewhocompetesinthe19%Olympicswillhawhad
at least one out-of-competition test in the run up to the Games.
Previously, the top SO on the world rankings in each event were
targeted. Butitwasfoundthatnotall Federationsweresendingtheir
internal resultstotheInternational SwimmingStatisticiansAssocia-
tion forinclusionon theworldrankings.
Hopingtostrengthentheout-of-competitiontesting,theperiodof
noticehasbeen reducedfrom48hoursto24 hours.
All FINAmembersarenowrequiredtosubmittoFINA,quarterly,
all results ofdopingtestscarried out under theirdomain. Thiswill
enableFINAtomonitoralldopingtestscarriedoutworld-wide.
TheFINAlistofbannedsubstancesandmethodshasbeenbrought
intolinewiththatoftheIOC.FurtherdetailsareavailableintheFINA
GuidelinesofDopingControl, Second Edition,which waspublished
andisavailablefrom National Federationsordirectlyfrom the FINA
office.
TiWwith longlimeHWACnu.nVi Ciyr HIliIIhi
SWIM CANADA/JANUARY 1996 5
)
DAY 1, NOVEMBER 30 ahead of the 1981 world record pace by
MaiyT.Meagher.
Record O'Neill Liu
CANADIANS HAVE BEST 29.40 28.89 29.28
1:01.40 1:00.44 1:02.11
OPENING DAY EVER WITH 1:33-90 1:32.93 1:34.42
2:05.65 2:06.18 2:06.51
TWO GOLDS AND TWO SILVERS Thetimesweresecondandthirdfast-
estever.O'Neillperhapswentouttoofast.
She lostthe recordby 53/100thsbutwas
abletoholdoffthebetterpacedLiminLiu.
Afteranunfortunatedelayinthestartofthefinalsof
over one hour due to an electronic short circuit Men's 200 freestyle: it was to be
affectingthetimingsystem,thechampionshipsgot
Gustavo Borges' turn to show Brazilian
underwayundertheblazingSouthAmericansunat
fanswhytheycametocheerintheswelter-
1AQpm (scheduledfora 1:30pmstart).
ingsunshine.
Borgeshadtheaddedincentiveof a
Men's100butterfly:ScottMiller.AUS.startedoff
recentlyannouncedfinancialawardfrom
thechampionshipswithwhatwastobecomealmost
meetsponsorCoca-Cola:U.S.$6,000 fora
aroutineforthefourdaysofthechampionships.Two
goldmedal, $3,000forasilverand$1,500
Aussieswouldbebattlingitoutforthemedalsandthe forabronze.Theswimmer'scoacheswould
best of the daywould get the gold, with the other
receiveanadditional20%oftheathlete's
settlingforsilverorbronze.
amount.
Thiseventsetthepattern. Millerqualifiedsec-
Borges, the tallest competitor in the
ond, as Denis Pimankov, RUS, bettered the meet
championshipsat2.02m,swimingwitha
record in theprelims. In the finals, Millerand the
long,gliding,classicsix-beatfreestyle,took
secondAustralian, Michael Klim, battledstroke for
theleadearlyandhadafullbodyleadwith
strokewithPimankov.TheAussiespickedupthegold 50 m to go. His win brought the wildly Still unbeatable: JingyiLe, CHN, easywinnerinthe50-
andthebronze. 100freeandthe4x100freerelay.
cheering crowd to its feet (The crowd
Women's 200 butterfly: Australian superstar would be doused down periodically by two water freestyle clinched anotherwin over the Canadian.
hoses. Entrywasfree andmostjustwalkedin from Dunnestablishedanewchampionship.Australian,
Susan O'Neill continued her pursuit of the world
CopacabanaBeachintheirbathingsuits. andCommonwealthrecordwith4:08.02.whileMyden
record.Sheout-duelledperennialChineserivalLimin
Borgeswonwith 1:45.55 overTrentBray, NZL, did his lifetime best, and bettered the last ofAlex
Liuwithatorridpacefromthefirststroke.O'Neillwas 1:46.18andMichaelKlim,AUS,1:46.44,whotookthe Baumann'sCanadian I.M. records,with4:09-39-
bronzeinthe 100flyearlier.
Women's100freestyle:JingyiLe,CHN,leftno A COMPARISON OF THE SPLITS
doubtshewillbereadyinAtlantanextsummer.With
fewperformancessincetheRomeWorldChampion-
ships in 1994, she easilywon in the secondfastest Dunn Splits Myden Splits
27.14 26.95
short course time ever of 53-23, with 15-year-old
newcomerNaChao CHN,insecond.Canada'sShan- 57.40 57.40 57.59 57.69
,
nonShakespeare,finishedfourthwith54.82,moving 1:29.86 1:30.26
upfromherfifthplacefinishtwoyearsago. 2:02.30 1:04.90 2:01.82 1:04.23
Germany'shighlypromotedsuperstarFranziska 2:37.28 2:36.97
vanAlmsickwasdisqualifiedatthestartforwhatwas 3:11.64 1:09.34 3:12.33 1:10.51
deemedtobe an intentional falsestart. Shesubse- 3:40.66 3:41.87
quentlywithdrewfromallherindividualswims,but 4:08.02 56.38 4:09.39 57.06
didcompeteintherelays.
Men's400 individual medley:CurtisMyden, Women's 400 individual medley: Afterthe
CAN, the defending champion from 1993, battled closebattle in themen's race, theoddsforCanada
long-time Australian rival Matthew Dunn for the improvedinthiseventasNana'Sweetnamqualified
gold. firstandJoanneMalarfourth.
Mydentooktheearlylead,withDunnstrokefor TheearlybattlewasbetweenElliOverton.Al'S.
Tewkidonthe'block 15-year-oldNaChao' stroke. Myden was just ahead after backstroke but whotooktheleadafterthefly.Overtonheldthelead
in 100freeandgoldin4x100freerelay AnGomes Dunnhadthebetterbreastleg.andwithhissuperior aftertheback,withMalarsecond.BrittaYestergaard.
6 SWIM CANADA JANUARY 1996
It was a Canadian record for mingtowin,endingthe afternoonwith hersecond
Malar. Sweetnam, the old record gold,splitting 1:59-07.
holder,postedherpersonalbest. TwoyearsagoCanadafinishedfourthin8:09.08.
Malar had minutes to warm- Theirtime in Rio of7:58.25 was another national
down and get readyforthe anchor record,thethirdoftheday.
legofthe4x200freerelay,withonly Afteronedayofcompetition,Canadianshadtwo
themen'srelayinbetween. goldsandtwosilversandthreenationalrecords,one
ofthebestdaysever.
Men's 4x100 medley relay:
FouryearsagoNewZealandwasdis-
qualifiedinthisevent.Afterthepre- Notes:Thetemporarystructureforthecompetition
lims,wheretheyqualifiedfirst,they wasbuilt from scaffoldingand itserved itspurpose
wouldhavetoholdoffthefavoured quitewell.Thedayitrained,itwasn'tentirelywater-
Australians,whichtheysuccessfully proof,butthatwasnotmuchofaproblemThelack
did. of adequate washrooms was. Only portable toilets
TheybeattheAustraliansforthe wereavailableandthesewerenotveryattractive.
firsttimeever. OnesurprisedAussie Theelectronicshort-circuitwascausedbyfrayed
explained, "It'sjustnoton,mate." wiring shorting out against the metal supports. A
Australia's anchor leg Michael giantsparkscaredthetimingsystemoperators.Itshut
Klim couldn't make up the half-a- downtheequipmentuntiltheshortwaspatched.
secondleadthekiwishad. Klimwas Riohasthemostamazingtraffic.NorthAmeri-
feeling the effect of the two third cans invented the traffic jam, but Brazilians have
placefinishesearlier, in the 100fly raisedittoanartform.CopacabanaBeachfrontson
andthe400I.M. adividedsixlaneroad.Trafficflowwouldreverseat
differenttimesoftheday.Butitalwaysseemedtobe
Women's4x200freerelay:It semi-paralyzed. On Sundays, three laneswould be
wasn't going to be easy. Germany closedtotraffic,andpedestriansruled.
GoldenhandshakeShannonShakespearecongratulatesJoanne andAustralialookedunbeatableon
Malaraftersuccessfullyanchoring4x200freerelay g°™s paper-ifeveryonedid
whatthey'recapable
DEN,movedintotheleadonthebreaststrokeleg,with of,Canadacouldbeinthehunt.
SweetnammovingintosecondandMalarthird. TheGermanstooktheleadafter
Withtwolengthstogo,Malarwasstillinthird. Dagmar Hase swam 1:59-41, with
Butputtingonafantasticburstinthelast50,Malar AnnaWindsor,AUS, close behind in
touched first, with Sweetnam also moving past 1:59.41.Canadian lead-offswimmer
Vestergaardforsecond.AnunprecedentedCanadian
MarianneLimpertsplit2:00.30putting
1-2sweep. theteaminthird.TheCanadianstook
Overton,theleaderforthefirsthalffadedtofifth a slight lead with Shannon Shake-
andtherewerenoAustraliansonthepodium. speare,whobattledSamanthaMackie,
Sweetnam, infinishingstronglyinthefreeleg, AUS. Sarah Evanetz swam the third
hadobviouslyimprovedoneofherperennialweak-
leg against veteran Aussie supe-star
nesses.Nancy'scoach,MarianSweetnam,explained Nicole Stevenson, who swam a poor
"she'sworkedhardonthefreestyleleg,whiletraining
2:03.34,whileEvanetzwent2:00.09.
in Florida." With a solid lead, Malar was swim-
HOW THE CONTENDERS CHASED AFTER THE GOLD MEDAL
Malar Splits Sweetnam Splits Vestergaard Spilts
30.56 30.23 30.83
1:04.40 1:04.40 1:04.57 1:04.57 1:05.11 1:05.11
1:39.97 1:40.63 1:40.63
2:1495 1:10.55 2:16.34 1:11.77 2:15.71 1:10.60
2:54.31 2:54.94 2:54.78
3:34.33 1:19.38 3:34.06 1:17.72 3:33.69 1:17.98
4:06.43 4:05.89 4:05.45
Gold medal relay MarianneLimpert, Shannon Sha
4:36.40 1:02.07 4:37.04 1:02.98 4:37.10 1:03.41
SarahEvanetzandJoanneMalar
SWIM CANADA/JANUARY 1996 7
DAY DECEMBER
2, 1
WORLD RECORDS FOR CLAUDIA
POLL AND SAMANTHA RILEY
Women's 50 freestyle: Thiswasare-runofthe
pre\iousday'srace.Jingyi Le,CHN, leadfromstartto
finish.!ler24.62wasthesecondbestperformanceever,
just shy ofher own world record from 1993- Angela
Postma,NED,suipriseswithasilver,with25.10inlane
eight.
Men's 100 breaststroke: Onworldrecordpace,
MarkWarnecke,GER,split28.07(l/100thshyofworld
recordsplit)butPaulKent,NZL,pulledalmostevenat
75.Warnecketouchedforthegold,in59-89-
Women's200breaststroke:Leavingnothingto
chance,SamanthaRileydemolishedtheworldrecord. Joyful moment Canada'sGuylaineCloutierembracesSamanthaRiley, AUS,afterrecordswim AnGomes
Shewants to leave no doubtshe's besteverwith the
aheadandfinishedstronglytobettervanAlmsick'sold
finesttechnique.Herdisqualificationatlastsummer's
recordbyhalfasecond.O'NeillwassecondwithMartina
PanPac'scastadarkshadowandshe'souttoavenge
Moravcova,SVK,aclosethird.
whatshedeemedaninjustice.Betteringarecordheldby
GuohongDai,CHN, addedtothesenseofrevenge. "I Pollthoughttherecordwaswithinreach."Iknew
neverexpectedtobetterthisrecordbyoverasecond," itwaspossible.IdidallIcouldtobeatit,"shesaid.Good
pacingwasevident:
Rileysaid.
vanAlmsick,93 ClaudiaPoll,95
GuohongDai,93 SamanthaRiley,95
26.67 27.74
33.40 32.08
55.72 29.05 56.95 29.21
1:10.19 36.79 1:07.73 35.65
1:25.99 30.27 1:26.33 29.38
1:46.00 35.81 1:43.99 36.26
1:55.84 29.85 1:55.42 29.09
2:21.99 35.99 2:20.85 36.86
ShannonShakespeare,CAN, finishedfifth (same
Lisa Flood, CAN, finishedfifth in 2:27.43 with a
asin 1993)withatimeof1:58.89.MarianneLimpert,
personalbest.
CAN,wassixth.
Men's 400 freestyle:DanielKowalski,AUS,took
the leadearly,JorgHoffmann, GERchaseddoggedly- Men's 200 backstroke: Qualifying first, Chris
Renaud had a real shot at a medal. The race had
afterhimandalmostcaughtup,3:45.14to3:45.65.The
Renaudintheleadafterthemidpoint.Cuba'sveteran
medalwinnerstwoyearsagowentthreesecondsfaster.
RodolfoFalconfinishedstronglytojusttouchahead.
Women's 200 freestyle: This was a perfectly 1:55.16toRenaud's 1:55.27(whomissedTewksbury's
Canadianrecordby2/100ths).
paced race from Claudia Poll, CRC, who let Susan
FalconwasCuba'sfirstworldlevelwinner."Itisthe HardfoughtsilverforCanadasChrisRenaud
O'Neill,AUS,takethelead.Atthemidpoint,Polleased
most important moment in my life," he
said. "Aftertheheats, I felt Icouldwin a touched ahead ofMetteJacobsen. DEN. by4/100ths.
medal, even win." The two swimmers BarbaraBedford,USA,addedthebronze.
fromCubahadbeentraininginRioforthe JulieHoward,CAN,wrasfifth.
monthbeforethechampionships.
MarkVersfeld,CAN, finished 10th in Men's4x200freerelay: Vustralialeftnodoubtin
1:57.80. thisone,withahalf-a-poolleadatthemidpointover
GermanyandBrazil,andthatwasthefinishorder.
Women's 100 backstroke: Misty
Hyman,USA,savedtheAmericansfroma Women's 800 freestyle:JuliaJung GER and
completewhiteout,withtheironlygoldof Carla Geurts, NED, had the lead until 600 m when
ie championships. She does the maxi- Hardcastle.GBR.movedahead. PingLuo.CHN.closed
Mark Warnecke, onlyGermanswimmerto win AnGomes uim allowable underwaterkick,butthe inontheleaderswith 100togo.finishingthird.Jung
surfaceswimmershavetheadvantage.She fadedtoseventh.HardcastlewoninS:2(->.46.
SWIM CANADA JANUARY 1996
.
wascalm andconfident.
PERSONALITY A different Sarah
Hardcastle came under
startersorders.Thecalm-
WORLD CHAMPION AT LAST ness and confidence re-
flected throughout the
AnitaLonsbrough race.
DagmarHaseofGer-
SarahHardcastleofGreatBritainhadoneambitionand many led until the 600
that was to stand on the top position of the victory metresmark,whenSarah
rostrumatamajorworldevent.Itwasadreamthatwas came into her own. But
thwartedatthe1984LosAngelesOlympicsbytheAmeri- what satisfaction Sarah
cans and twoyears later by the East Germans at the musthaveenjoyedwhen
MadridWorldChampionships.Butwiththeidyllicback- passingDagmar.TheGer-
dropofCopacabanaBeach,RiodeJaneiro,onasunny manswimmer,whowon
Fridayafternoon,herdreamcametrueasshetrounced the400mfreestyleatthe
herrivalstowinthe800mfreestyle. BarcelonaOlympics,had
Ithadbeenalongwaitandthevictorywasallthe Surprised everyone: SarahHardcastle won800free dedicated her Olympic
sweeter.Sarah,now26,isthefirsttoadmitthatnotall soshewithdrew. goldtoAstridStrauss,Sarah sold rival fr the 1980s
hermainrivals,includingJanetEvans,USA,theworld Thefollowingyear,1995,startedwithhermarriage Hardlydry after herswim-down, Sarah began to
recordholder, andHayleyLewis,AUS,rankednumber asthepriorityforSarah.Shemanagedtocombineboth considerretirement Shehadnowwonthatcovetedgold
oneoverthedistancelongcoursein1995,werepresent. trainingand the stress andemotional upheavals any medal.Shouldshegetoutontoporfacethechanceof
Buttoher,winningwasimportant."Ineededthisgold young bride goes through as she made the arrange- failureattheAtlantaOlympics?EvenhertimeinRioof
tobesurecomingbackhasbeenworthit.WhenIwon, mentsforherbigday. 8:26.46wassometwoandahalfsecondsslowerthanher
itwassucharelief." Things went well at her wedding, a perfect day bestsettwoyearsearlier.Couldshefacetheself-disci-
Herfirst international careerstarted at the 1982 enjoyed by all. But twoweeks later, at the European pline, hard work, and sacrifices needed for Olympic
CommonwealthGamesinBrisbane. Itlastedlessthan Trials,shewasorderedbythemeetdoctortowithdraw glory?Whatifshefailed?Couldshefacetheheartache
fouryearsandended abruptly,shortlyaftertheWorld duetoillhealth,whicheventuallykeptheroutofthe anddisappointment'!'
Championshipsin1986.Yetthatsummerhadbeenher waterforseveralweeks. Oneofthethingsthathadhelpedpersuadeherto
best.AttheEdinburghCommonwealthGamesshehad Thismeantshe hadqualified forjustthe800 m carryonaftertheEuropeanChampionshipswasthefact
comewithin15/1OOthsoftheworldrecordforthe800m freestyle.AlthoughsheisBritain'sfastest400mswim- thatSarahandherhusband,LeeThomas,weretospend
freestyle,arecordthenheldbyAustralia'sTr^icyWickliam merbyfar,thetwoswimmerswhohadfinishedfirstand theirdelayedhoneymooninBrazilafterthechampion-
Butfrom thehighofScotlandshehit rockbottomin second at the Trials insisted on keeping theirplaces. ships.Wouldtheholidayhelppersuadeh—ertocontinue
Spain.Deepdown,Sarahdidnotwanttoputherheadon Sarahwasaskedtocompeteinthe4x200mfreestyle andaim forthe ultimateprize insport an Olympic
theblockagainlessthantwoweeksafterEdinburgh,as relaybutshefeltitwasunfairtotakeaplaceawayfrom gold medal? She returned home just five days before
shefeltmentallyandphysicallydrained. oneoftheotherswimmerswhohadcompetedinthe200 Christmasfullyrested.Butstillnodecision.
Butthereshewas, liningup again. Inthe400m mattheTrialsandwonherplace.Thecontroversyand Sarah swam on Friday, December 29, under the
freestyleshewonbronzebehindtheEastGermanpairof rumblingswithinthesportoverthesubjectwassome- supervisionofRosa,andshesoonrealizedandadmitted
HeikeFriedrichandAstridStrauss.Butthedevastating thingSarahcouldwellhavedonewithout,astherewas toherselfthat"I'dbeafooltocallitquitssevenmonths
blowwasyettocome.Inthe800mfreestyleshefailedto enoughpressuretryingtogetfitagaininsuch ashort beforetheGames."
winaplaceonthewinners'podium,finishingadisap- time. Butat26,shepreparesforAtlantawithhereyeswide
pointing fifth, some 12 seconds slower than at the By the time the European Championships in Vi- open, knowing that ifshe is to have achance at any
CommonwealthGames. ennacamearoundattheendofAugust,Sarahwasfit colourofamedal,shemustrecapturethekindofform
Sarahadmitsthatasateenagershewas"anarro- physicallybutnotmentally.Fromthefirstfewstrokesof thatbroughthertowithinahair'sbreadtho—ftheworld
gant youngster." She had no fears and believed she thefinalitwasobviousshewastenseandoffthepace. recordadecadeago. Butonethingisclear shedoes
couldbeatanyone,sothisdefeatwasabitterblowand Shefinishedadisappointingseventhandalmostimme- notwanttobeatripper,makingtheGamesjustsoshe
somethingshefailedtocometotermswith.Shortlyafter diatelythememoriesofMadridcamefloodingback.The canextendherlistofwhereshe'sbeenandcompeted.To
returninghomesheannouncedherprematureretire- heartacheandfeelingoffailurewereuppermostinher have that attitude, she believes, would be "awasteof
ment,asshecouldnotcopewiththefeelingoffailure mind.Shouldsheorshouldshenotcontinue?Butthe time.Youshouldalwayswanttoimprove.Forme.Ihave
andtheheartacheitallcaused. yearningsforthatelusive goldmedal and an MBE as togetbetterorIfeelafailure. UntilIcompetedin Rio.
ItwasaverydifferentSarahwho returned tothe recognition forher achievementswere still strong, so Ithoughtmycomebackhadbeenunsuccessful.I'mnot
sportin1993-Asamaturewomanof24,sherealizedthe carryingonwastheanswer. atripperandhavetobecompetitivein myracesor I'd
responsibilities. She worried about her rivals and al- Yet anotherproblem forSarah tocopewith. Her rathernotcompete."
lowednervestogetthebetterofherasshesetsuchahigh coach,RosaGallop,wentintohospitalloranoperation Sarah has no regrets about her retirement at the
standard and expectations of hers—elf. Success at her and was going to be out of action for nearly all of tenderageof 17,claiming"IfI hadn't, I would never
secondattempthadnotcomeeasy arelaybronzeat September and October. Who was going to see her havebeenworkingatFordswhereI metmyhusband.'
the European Championships in 1993, followed by a through the session set? After much discussion, Give Toanyonewhoisalittleboredordisillusionedwith
relaysilverandherfirstindividual medal, abronzeat Durran, an assistant to Rosa at Bracknell, joined the thesport,shegivesthisadvice:"Youshouldfollowyour
the Commonwealth Games the following year. 1994 team.HewasnostrangertoSarahasheoftentookher heart. Ifyourheart has lost interest in somethingyou
very nearly saw a repeat of 1986 in that the World sessionswhen Rosawasunavailable. shouldstopdoingituntilyouregainyourenthusiasm.
Championships in Rome followed the Victoria Com- ThestandardsSarahwassettingherselfweremak- Otherwiseyouwillnotgiveitalltheeffort itrequiresto
monwealthGamesbyjustdays.Fortunately,retirement, ing her nervous before a race, so the help of a besuccessful.''
which was considered, was avoided this time. Sarah, hypnotherapistwassought.DoctorGeoffCooksawSarah Sarah's husbandwasthe motivator in hercome-
who had not wanted to compete in both events, was forsixweekspriortotheWorldShortCourseChampion- back. Hegivesherthemenialsupport andencourage
disappointedwhenshefailedtomakethetopeightand shipsandtaughtherself-hypnosis.Thisshedidonthe mentthatshehopeswillturnthesilverandbronzeofLos
coiddnotfacearepeatperformanceinthe800mfree, day ol thefinal Sell beliefwasno longerlacking. She AngelesintoAtlantagold.LI
SWIM CANADA/JANUARY 1996 it
—
DAY 3, DECEMBER 2
TWO MORE WOMEN'S
WORLD RECORDS
GOLDEN SPRINT FOR RRAZIL
Women's 100 butterfly: This was one ofthe
closestfinishes,withLiniinLiu,CHN, 58.68,touch-
ingaheadofSusanO'Neill,AUS,58.69,withformer
recordholderAngelaKennedy,AUS,thirdin58.74.All
threemedalwinnersbetteredtheoldworldrecord.
"Iamver\ happ\." Liusaid."ButIthinkIwasa Lost world record AngelaKennedy, AUS, finishedthirdinthe 100fly, butjust6/100thsbehind
littleluckw.I'mgladtobeaheadbutweallwentunder winnerLiminLiu, whosetnewworldrecordof58.68, betteringKennedy's58.77. AnGomes
therecord.IusuallyperformbetterlongcourseasIdo
all mytrainingina50mpool." lostcontactwiththeleadersandfinishedsLxthwith CoaracyNunes,achievedtheimpossible.
Infactsevenoftheeightfinalistswentunderone 4:11.89. Firsthebidsuccessfullytohostthechampion-
minute,makingthisoneofthefastestfinals. ships. He convinced the sceptics that a temporary
Canada'sjessicaAmeyjustmissedthefinals,and Men's 100 freestyle: The capacity crowd of complexcouldbeerectedonCopacabanaBeachand
finishedsecondintheB-final. 8,000 was brought to their feet as the announcer nowinthepremiereventofthesport,twoofthevery
introduced Gustavo Borges in lane three, and bestathletesintheworldwouldperfonninfrontof
Men's 200 butterfly: It was an all-Australian FernandoSchererinlanefour.Brazil'sfinestswim- theircountrymen.
battleasScottMillerandScottGoodmanracedforthe merswereabouttoperforminfrontoftheirfansin SchererandBorgeswentstrokeforstrokeandthe
gold.MillerhadtheearlyleadbutGoodmancameon theirbestevent.Thecrowedchanted"Bra-sil...Bra- marginofvictorywasonly3/100ths.Theywereevenly
verystronginthesecondhalfandwonbyalmosttwo sil" (Yes, it'sspelledwithansbythecariocas). matched. Schererwonwith47.97toBorges' 48.00.
bodylengths.Acomparisonoftheirsplits: In the prelims, Scherer's 47.74 established a Another South American, Fernando Sanchez, VEN,
ScottGoodman ScottMiller championshipsrecordandthethirdfastesttimeever. completedthelatinsweepofthemedals.
26.86 25.80 NicknamedXuxa, he is thecrowd'sfavourite ashe Thiswouldbethesecond goldforBrazil atthe
55.99 29.13 55.08 29.28 livesandtrainsinBrazil,whileBorgeshasbeenatthe championships.
1:24.89 28.90 1:25.49 30.41 UniversityinMichiganforthepastfouryears. Whenpresentedwiththemedals,theorganizers
1:54.79 29.90 1:56.36 30.87 Brazilian Swimming Confederation President would only play each national anthem for 10-15
Women's 400 freestyle:
It was a race between Carla
Geurts,NED,whowonasilver
thedaybefore in the 800 free
andClaudiaPoll,CRC,thenew
worldrecordsetterintheprevi-
ousday's200free.
Geurtstooktheearlylead,
with Poll moving into first at
the 200 and gradually easing
ahead, winning by a body
length.
ForPoll, thiswashersec-
ondgoldandthe4:05.18wasa
championship record. Geurts
swama4:06.20.
"Istartedslowly,"Pollex-
plained."ThenIgotmyrhythm
andgotmysecondgoldformy
country."
ThebronzewenttoSarah
Hardcastle,GBR,in4:07.20.
JoanneMalar,CAN,quali-
fied second with 4:11.54, but Perfection SamanthaRiley AUS, swamtwo worldrecordsandwonthreegoldmedals AnGomes
10 SWIM CANADA JANUARY 1996