1968 United States Olympic Book

PAUL ZIMMERMANN he greatest array of aquatic talent the Alberca arena with their wild cheers until Los Angeles Times Tworld has ever seen left a debris of shatter- it seemed the place, like the Walls of Jericho, ed records in its wake after ten torrid days and would surely come tumbling down, Felipe's nights of competition at beautiful Alberca teammates jammed a huge sombrero, tossed Ah, auditorium in the XIX Olympiad. Half a from the stands, down over his ears and dozen world marks were washed away and paraded him precariously around the pool. to be 23 out of 29 events measured by the stop Not since Joaquin Capilla accomplished it Young... watch were posted as Olympic standards. in the platform diving at Melbourne a In the final analysis it was mostly young- dozen years ago, had Mexico scored an sters in their teens who took command. So Olympic victory and that had occurred spectacular were their performances that thousands of miles away, before anyone in not one of the stars at Tokyo four years Mexico City ever dared hope the Olympic ago was able to win an individual gold Games would one day come to them. medal. Speaking of diving, in the parade of beauty For example, there was dimpled Debbie among the feminine stars, it would be diffi- Meyer, the 16-year-old lass from the USA cult to find one in a Miss Universe contest who ignored the talk of an "oxygen debt" that would out-shine petite Milena Duch- at the mile and a half altitude to win three kova, the 16-year-old student from Prague. individual gold medals, the largest total Her grace and charm drew rounds of ever collected by a swimmer. applause, and high marks from the judges And then there was 17-year-old Roland in the women's platform dives as she won Matthes, the East German physical edu- over such pretty, and only slightly less pro- cation student, who scored a double in the ficient, performers as Natalia Lobanova of 100- and 200-meter backstroke tests, then the Soviet Union and Ann Peterson, the topped this off on the final night with a American with the long blond tresses. fantastic 58-seconds-flat first lap in the Then there was Kaye Hall, tall, blond and men's medley relay. blue-eyed. When Catie Ball, her US team- Who will ever forget the night that 17-year- mate and world record holder, was forced old Felipe Munoz, fresh out of high school, to return home because of illness, this high upset world record holder Vladimir school youngster from Washington took Kosinsky of the Soviet Union to win the over to win the 100-meter backstroke in 200-meter breaststroke ? It was unexpected, the time of 1:06.2. of course, and the shouts of "Viva, el Not entirely unheralded, but certainly over- Munoz!" resounded for half an hour after looked, Kaye rose to the occasion, as she the youth had given Mexico its first gold defeated Canada's equally young star, Elaine medal of the Games. Tanner, and set one of the world records While the almost 14,000 shook the new in so doing. It was the kind of Olympic competition in which pert 17-year-old Lynette McClem- ents, a secretary from Perth, Australia, Reaching her goal in the 100 meter mounted the victory podium in the 100- butterfly! Lynn McClements, the girl from meter butterfly. Then there was the 19- Australia, caused a complete sensation year-old Australian, Michael Wenden, with by touching the finish before both of her a 52.2 world record in the classic 100-meter competitors from the USA, Ellie Daniel freestyle, and another victory in the 200. and Susan Shields, both of whom Don Schollander, the Yale student who had finished ahead of world record holder and made the 100 his first stepping stone to pre-final favorite, Ada Kok, Netherlands. four Olympic gold medals at Tokyo in the The public always favors the sensational freestyle and relays, had to settle for a outsiders. Never before in all her young life shared first place on the US 800-meter was the small and graceful typist from quartet and second to Wenden in the 200. the sixth continent so honored as in this Thus, Schollander bowed to youth just as swimming stadium. his seniors did to him at Tokyo. 121.

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