"Somebody's Gonna Break a Record"

The question in swimming was not how many medals the U.S. would win but how many it would lose. In Tokyo's Olympic pool, the dreams of other aquatic nations dissolved in the foam churned up by 49 crew-cut boys and pink-cheeked girls who averaged 18 years of age, fretted like all adolescents about acne and freckles--and swam as if sharks were snapping at their toes.

The very first American in the pool, California's Gary Ilman, shattered the Olympic record for 100 meters; before he could even write home about it, all sorts of people were beating the mark, too--and Gary found himself just the fourth-best 100-meter man in the world. "Somebody's gonna break the world record in the 200-meter backstroke," predicted Princeton's Jed Graef, 22. Who might that be? "Me," said Graef, and hit the electronic touchboard in 2 min. 10.3 sec., barely edging Teammate Gary Dilley.

Three days before he was due to swim in the 400-meter individual medley (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle), California's Dick Roth, 17, was stricken with an appendicitis attack. Rushed to a hospital, he was fed intravenously, packed in ice. Roth refused medication: "If it has to come out, O.K.," he said, "but if it doesn't, I don't want to be punchy for the race." Then he went out and chopped 3.1 sec. off his own world record.

One-Two-Three. There was talk that the U.S. might take every gold medal in the men's events. Three Australians --Ian O'Brien in the 200-meter breaststroke, Bob Windle in the 1,500-meter freestyle and Kevin Berry in the 200-meter butterfly--ended that discussion. So the U.S. settled for eight of the first eleven.

And those U.S. girls? Nobody was more shocked than New Jersey's Lesley Bush, 17, when she somersaulted to a gold medal from the 10-meter platform --except maybe Germany's Ingrid Kramer, who won the high dive in 1960 and was supposed to repeat. California's Donna de Varona, 17, led a one-two-three sweep of the women's 400-meter individual medley, and Cathy Ferguson, 16, set a new world record in the 100-meter backstroke. Of course, there was nothing anyone could do to stop Australia's ageless Dawn Fraser, 27, from winning the 100-meter freestyle in a record 59.4 sec. But Sharon Stouder, only 15, came within .4 sec. (becoming the first U.S. girl ever to crack 1 min.), then won the 100-meter butterfly and helped her teammates beat the world's record for the 400-meter freestyle relay.

The Real Thrill. Nobody demonstrated U.S. superiority better than Oregon's Don Schollander, who has been training for the Olympics five hours a day every day for eight of his 18 years. "The greatest sensation in swimming," he says, "is the pain you have to swim through. But the real thrill is winning--and winning big." Last week Don was looking for all the thrills he could find. In the 100-meter freestyle he left France's World Record Holder Alain Gottvalles far behind to set a 53.4-sec. Olympic record. "I had nothing left at the finish," he confided afterward. "Not a drop, not a single breath."

That must have been gamesmanship --because Schollander had lots left. Three days later he won the 400-meter freestyle in world-record time: 4 min. 12.2 sec. He anchored the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team to still another world record. And by week's end, only a tidal wave was going to keep him from winning his fourth gold medal of the Games, in the 800-meter relay. That ought to be enough to satisfy anybody. But when a newsman showed up for his appointment with the No. 1 star of the 1964 Olympics, Schollander refused to talk and closeted himself in a room. Why? He was so disappointed that he was practically in tears. He wanted to win five gold medals--something nobody had ever done in the 68-year history of the Games. He probably would have, too, if Teammate Steve Clark hadn't beaten him right out of a spot on the U.S. 400-meter medley relay team. Explained Schollander's coach, George Haines: "You have to understand. Don has been working eight years for this."

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