The Water Babies

In 1932, as smooth-cheeked teenagers, Japan's champion swimmers proved that the Olympic pool in Los Angeles was no place for old men of 20. Last week in Tokyo, a California high school boy and his teen teammates taught the startled Japanese a bit of their own lesson. Against a seasoned team studded with 1960 Olympics competitors, and with an average age of 21, American youngsters (average age: 18 1/2) displayed stunning virtuosity, completely dominated the dual meet, and cracked five world records.

So Saari. No. 1 Wunderkind of the three-day contest was 17-year-old Don Schollander, chunky (5 ft. 10 in., 160 Ibs.) star of the Santa Clara, Calif., Swim Club. At 16, Schollander set American freestyle records at 200, 400 and 500 yards. Fighting off old age, he twice broke through the two-minute barrier in the 200-meter freestyle before traveling to Japan. Last week, under the mesmerized eyes of TV cameras, newsreel photographers and 7,500 sophisticated Japanese swimming fans, he coolly did it again, "hydroplaning" (as one dazzled Tokyo sportswriter put it) up and down Jingu Pool in the world-record time of 1:58.5; later in Osaka, he even shaved a tenth of a second off that mark.

As excitable out of water as he is exciting in it, Schollander practically swam every race in Tokyo. While an 18-year-old University of Southern California sophomore named Roy Saari churned through the seemingly endless laps of the 1,500-meter freestyle, Schollander leaped crazily along the edge of the pool, waving a white towel and yelling "Get going!" For 24 lengths, Saari lagged sadly behind the lap times set by Australia's John Konrads when he posted the world record of 17:11 three years ago. Then Saari spotted Schollander's frenzied cheerleading out of the corner of his eye. His kick, which had been fluttering off at an angle, suddenly strengthened and began stirring up a furious wake. At 1,400 meters, he was 21 seconds ahead of Konrads' pace and, incredibly, getting stronger. By race's end he had gained three more seconds to finish in a roar of Japanese cheering and 17:05.5

The new records were like a pair of dominoes toppling at the head of the line. Next day, U.S. Freestylers Steve Clark, Richard McDonough, Gary II-man and Edward Townsend surged through the 400-meter relay to set a new world mark of 3:36.1. Carl Robie, an 18-year-old University of Michigan freshman, seemed all arms and shoulders as he powered his way to a 2:08.2 world butterfly record over 200 meters. By the time the U.S. 800-meter freestyle relay team of Schollander, McDonough, Townsend and Saari crouched and sprang from the starting platform on the final day, a feeling of inevitability had settled around the race. Sure enough, the result was another world mark: 8:03.7. The overwhelming U.S. team margin: 63 points, to Japan's 22. And still there was no stopping the Americans: in Osaka, in what was supposed to be a rest-up meet, the 400-meter medley relay team of Richard McGeagh, William Craig, Walter Richardson, and Clark set a new world's record of 4:00.1.

Hard Work, Plus. After their stunning win at the 1932 Olympics, the grinning Japanese coaches let U.S. reporters in on their none-too-startling secret of success. It was hard training that did the trick, they said. Last week, when Japanese reporters asked how it was done, U.S. Coach Ralph Casey came back with a similar bromide: "Hard work." But he added a postscript that boded ill for Japanese swimmers far beyond the day next year when this year's crop of young record breakers returns to Tokyo for the Olympics. "We have upwards of 600,000 swimmers under systematic training back home," said Casey, "and more than 2,000 paid coaches working for them." Japan may well have uncounted pools full of promising teenagers eager to repeat the upset of '32. But the roster of salaried Japanese swimming coaches numbers less than 100.

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