American Wafer Bugs

Their shoulders were just beginning to smooth over with muscle, and their legs were still developing full power. Many had never competed in a national swimming meet. But before they were done with the A.A.U. championships held in Yale's Gothic Payne Whitney Gymnasium last week, the youthful American water bugs had served notice on the world--including the feared Australians and Japanese--that the U.S. was improving fast for the Rome Olympics next August. The A.A.U. meet was, in fact, the greatest in U.S. history: with 14 swimming events on the program, seven American records were broken and two others equaled.

Symbolic of the swimming surge were the defeats of Indianapolis' Frank McKinney Jr. (son of the onetime Democratic National Committee chairman), who had been the finest U.S. backstroker in history. Last week, swimming as well as ever, the 21-year-old McKinney was twice trounced by the University of Southern California's late-blooming Charlie Bittick, who tied the American record for the 100 in 54.4, set the record for the 220 in 2:13.1. And the 2O-year-old Bittick frankly said, "I'm scared" by the times of 17-year-old Roger Goettsche of the New Trier (Ill.) swim club, who was barely touched out by McKinney in the 100.

Plainly proving the success of a massive A.A.U. regional swimming program were these performances in other key events:

P: Thrashing like a windmill run amuck, Indiana University Sophomore Mike Troy, 19, tied his own 53:1 American record for the 110-yd. butterfly, broke his American record for the 22O-yd. butterfly by 4.4 sec. with a time of 2:12.4.

P: The 100-yd. breast stroke went to an 18-year-old University of Michigan freshman named Dick Nelson, who, say swimming coaches, is just getting the knack of his difficult stroke, despite the fact that he set a meet record of 1:02.4.

P: In the 400-yd. medley (butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke, freestyle), Stanford Junior George Harrison, 20, won in 4:28.6 to better by 2.6 sec. the fastest time ever recorded for the event and earn high praise from Yale's Coach Emeritus Bob Kiphuth: "Technically the greatest all-round swimmer in the world." Behind Harrison was Sophomore Lance Larson of the University of Southern California, who himself was .5 sec. under the record.

P: Never a standout at Syracuse University, Navy Lieut, (j.g.) John McGill, 23, turned the 200-yd. medley in 2:03.3 to knock 7.8 sec. off his best pre-meet time and set an A.A.U. championship record. Cracked McGill: "I'm as surprised as anyone."

P: In the loo-yd. freestyle, the feature event of any swimming meet, the man to beat was Jeff Farrell, 23, a weight-lifting Navy lieutenant who had won the 220 in the record time of 2:00.2. In a trial heat, Farrell tied the listed record of 48.9. But 16-year-old Steve Clark of Los Angeles qualified in 48.8. Suitably impressed, Farrell hit his tumble turns in the finals like an acrobat, won in the record time of 48.2 (Clark was fifth, with 49.4) So fast were the American sprinters that 19 bettered the 51-sec. world record of Johnny (Tarzan) Weissmuller, which had stood from 1927 to 1943. Australia's Jon Henricks, 24, a student at the University of Southern California, and 100-meter gold medal winner in the 1956 Olympics, did not even qualify for the finals.

U.S. swimming coaches expect the American youngsters to improve even more this spring and summer as they train in the outdoor, long-course pools that will be used in the Rome Olympics.

Just a few months ago, the swimming Olympics looked like a private war between Australia and Japan. But on the basis of last week's showing, U.S. swimmers should be strong contenders in the sprints of every stroke, put together relay teams that can give anyone a battle. Said Yale's Coach Phil Moriarty: "These youngsters are thinking big. They see no limit to the horizon of swimming titles."

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