DUAL SUPREMACY by Bob Ingram

DUAL SUPREMACY By Bob Ingram

“This Month in Swimming,” a monthly column of Swimming World Magazine, sponsored by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, features two of the hall of fame’s Honor Swimmers, John Naber (1982) and Roland Matthes (1981). The August issue reports that Naber broke Matthes’ seven- year unbeaten streak in backstroke on Aug. 31, 1974 at the USA-DDR Dual Meet in Concord, Calif. Naber also won the 100 back the next day. For the better part of nearly 16 years, Matthes (1967-76) and Naber (1976-83) held the world records in those two events. Following is an excerpt of Swimming World Magazine’s coverage of that historic event (reprinted from its October 1974 issue):

CONCORD, Calif.—The men had their share of records during the USA- DDR Dual Meet, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 1974—four world, five American, one East German and one European. But the biggest news of all wasn’t about a record of seconds or minutes. It was about a record of years—seven to be exact. That’s how long the DDR’s (East Germany’s) Roland Matthes, 23, had remained unbeaten in his specialty, the backstroke. Since 1967 after losing to Jochim Kother, Matthes never lost a single backstroke race again until Aug. 31, 1974. The man to do it was John Naber, a lanky 18-year-old, who wasn’t even swimming when the 6-4 Matthes began his remarkable string. The historic moment came in the eighth swimming event, the 200 meter backstroke, with the United States nursing a 10-point lead. It was an event Naber had been pointing for all summer, and it was this event, the 200, that Naber had his best chance of upsetting the backstroke kingpin. At the 50, John turned in 28.8; Matthes, second, in 29.0. At the 100, Naber lengthened his lead, splitting 59.39 (6-hundredths ahead of the world record split), while the four-time Olympic gold medal winner turned at 1:00.26. The fans, all 6,000 of them on their feet, kept cheering wildly for “The Snake,” as Naber is called, hoping that John would still have enough left when Matthes would begin his move. But Naber kept lengthening his lead with every stroke, and Matthes never did make his move. John became the first person to break Matthes’ seven-year string in impressive fshion, winning the race 2:02.83 to 2:05.34. Naber appeared to be stunned immediately after the race, but soon afterward, John unveiled his ear-to-er grin, pointing his index finger to one side of the stands, indicating he was No. 1, and then blowing a kiss to the other side of the stands. He then jumped up out of the water with excitement and went over and hugged Matthes. It was a touching scene that the swimming world will not soon forget. While on the award stand, John held up a towel with the USA stars and stripes. Even when he walked around the pool to the acknowledgement of the fans, John jumped up and kicked his heels, he was so happy. When it was all over, Matthes proved a gracious loser and commented, “John was the only swimmer at this time who was capable of beating me, and he did it. I just didn’t have it in the last 50 meters. “I’m not too disappointed. I have been sick most of the year and haven’t been able to get in much training.” John, who came close to a world record, had to settle instead for an American record. After the race, he said, “I wanted his record. Now I get the headache of people trying to beat me simply because I was the one who beat him. He walks away with all the pressure off.” All the pressure, however, returned the next day (Sept. 1) for both of them as Naber and Matthes had a rematch in the 100 back.. The 100 looked like it would be Matthes’ turn for the No. 1 plaudits, as he moved out to an early lead and turned first at the 50 in 28.2. Naber was with him at the turn in 28.4, along with U.S. teammate John Murphy, 28.8. It still looked like Matthes would hold off Naber, but at about 75 meters, Murphy made a bid to overtake Matthes, while it looked like Naber would have to be content for third. Then all of a sudden, Naber came from nowhere, and with each stroke, he gained on Matthes until, seemingly, his last stroke to the wall managed to outtouch the fading East German, 57.74 to 57.96. Murphy was a close third at 58.16. Later in the meet, Naber made it three-for-three when he beat Matthes on the leadoff leg of the 400 meter medley relay, 57.99 to 58.52. After his performances, Matthes said, “I feel like a grandfather. It’s for the young swimmers now.”