Tracy Caulkins: She's No
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USS NATIONALS BY BILL BELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN HELMS TRACY CAULKINS: SHE'S NO. 1 Way back in the good oi' Indeed, there was a very good 39 national championships, set 31 days, before Tracy Caulkins swimmer. He was an American. An individual American records and Olympic champion. A world record one world record (the 200 IM at the was a tiny gleam in her holder. His name was Johnny Woodlands in August 1978). parents' eyes, before Weissmuller. At the C)'Connell Center Pool anybody had heard of Mark Tarzan. He could swing from the here in Gainesville, April 7-10, Spitz or Donna de Varona or vines with the best of 'em. But during the U.S. Short Course Debbie Meyer, back even before entering show biz he was a Nationals, she tied Weissmuller's 36 wins by splashing to the 200 back before the East German great swimmer. The greatest American swimmer (perhaps the title opening night (1:57.77, just off Wundermadchen or Ann greatest in all the world) of his era. her American record 1:57.02). The Curtis or smog in Los He won 36 national championships next evening Tarzan became just Angeles or Pac-Man over a seven-year span (1921-28) another name in the U.S. Swimming .... there was a swimmer. and rather than king of the jungle, record book as Caulkins won the Weissmuller should have been more 400 individual medley for No. 37, accurately known as king of the swept to No. 38 Friday night (200 swimming pool. IM) and climaxed her 14th Na- From 100 yards or meters through tionals by winning the 100 breast 500 yards or 400 meters he was Saturday evening. unbeatable when it came to free- For the record, Caulkins has won style. For good measure he even 39 of 46 national championship won a 150 yard backstroke title one races since her first U.S. title at Can- year (1923), clocking 1:42.0 for the ton. She's won her last 12 con- Illinois Athletic Club. secutive USS National races, four at How far was Weissmuller ahead each of the last two short course of his contemporaries?. The year championships and four last sum- before he won his only backstroke mer in Brown Deer (long course). crown, the top time for that race Caulkins' last defeat at a U.S. was a blazing 1:49.8. The year after: Nationals was Aug. 2, 1980, in 1:47.4. Irvine when she finished second to His Olympic golds came in 1924 Mary T. Meagher in the 100 meter (100-400 meter freestyle) and four butterfly. years later in the 100 free. All were Additionally, she's been on 11 world records. winning relays, including the Forty-nine years after Weiss- winning 400 medley team here. muller won his last medal, another Caulkins and her Nashville American embarked upon a swim- Aquatics teammates have also set ming streak. Five years later that four American relay records plus an streak would carry her past the additional four club records. legendary Tarzan and into tlqe Add the numbers up and you get record books as America's greatest 50 wins, 35 American records, eight swimmer ever. club records, one world record and Little did Tracy Caulkins realize still going strong. when she won her first national title The 19-year-old Caulkins was a (the 100 yard breaststroke at Can- mere lass of 14 when she won her ton, Ohio, in April 1977) what she first title at Canton. However, she was starting. In the half decade had been a regular at U.S. Nationals since, Caulkins has run up a total of since the long course championships Swimming World/June 21 USS NATIONALScontinued in Kansas City 11/2 years earlier. 100 yard breaststroke in a record national standard 1:57.02 from 1981 Asked which of her wins was the 1:01.13, surpassing Ann Curtis' is faster. most memorable, she smiled: "That total of 30 titles. Curtis swam for The media, naturally enough, had first one was probably the nicest so San Francisco's Crystal Palace a field day. One television reporter far. You always remember the very Plunge club from 1943-48. asked her, "How does it feel to sit on first." Despite her four wins, Caulkins the same perch with Tarzan?" She became America's winningest set no American records at Another chimed in, "Can you do the woman swimmer a year ago (April Gainesville, although her 200 back yell?" To all and sundry, Caulkins 11, to be precise, at Harvard's victory was the second-fastest per- just flashed her iridescent smile, Blodgett Pool) when she won the formance in history. Only her answered politely, but declined to do the yell. Then there was Mission Viejo. The Mark Schubert-coached Nada- dotes won their third consecutive combined U.S. championship. Mis- sion's men won, scoring 765 points, while their women followed suit (418) for an overall score of 1,183. Not bad but a far cry from their 1,518 from Harvard in 1981. At that championships the Nadadore men scored a record 910 points while their women chipped in with 608--41 fewer than the record high of 649 by George Haines' 1972 Santa Clara short course squad. Mission has now won 11 combined, 11 women's and 6 men's titles since 1974. Santa Clara won 26 women's, nine men's titles and eight combined titles during Haines' reign. Second overall here was Florida (405 points), while third went to Coach Paul Bergen's Longhorn Aquatics (391). Fourth was Jay Fitz- gerald's Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins (371) and fifth, Ron Young's National Titles Nashville Aquatics (266). 1921 1927 The 1982 Short Course Nationals, Outdoors 50 yd. free n.t. Indoors 100 yd. free 51,4 220 yd. free 2:28.0 220 yd. free 2:10.8 while not devoid of excitement, was 1922 500 yd. free 5:43.4 hardly the ne plus ultra of American Indoors 100 yd. free 54.0 Outdoors 100 m free 58.0 220 yd. free 2:17.4 440 yd. free 4:52.0 championships. With many of the 500 yd. free 5:46.8 1928 Outdoors 50 yd. free n.t. Indoors 100 yd, free 50,8 leading college men (and women) 100 yd. free 52.8 220 yd. free 2:10.4 having peaked for their respective 220 yd. free 2:22.4 500 yd. free 5:28.4 440 yd, free 5:16.4 Outdoors 100 m free 57.8 collegiate championships the 1923 440 yd. free 4:58.6 previous month --and with the Indoors 50 yd. free n.t. 100 yd. free 54.8 World Records women having had two different 220 yd. free 2:22.0 1922 title meets with two different sets of 500 yd. free 5:43.6 100 m. free, 200 m. free. 400 m free, 100 yd. free. 150 yd. back t:42,0 220 yd. free, 300 yd. free, 300 m. free, 400 yd, free, standards that did nothing but Outdoors 100 ya. free 54.6 500 yd. free, 500 m. free. 150 y0. back dilute the quality of both--the 440 yd. free 5:37.4 1923 1924 400 m. free. 400 yd. free results attained here were far from Indoors 50 yd. free n.t. 1924 100 yd. free 53.8 100 m. free, 100 yd, free spectacular. 200 yd. free 2:14,B 1925 Or were they? The men bettered 500 yd. free 5:50.4 t00 yd. free (twice), 200 yd. free 1925 1927 three American and a pair of U.S. Indoors 50 yd. free n.t. 200 m. free. 800 m. free, 100 yd. free. 220 yd, free, Open records. On the women's side, 100 yd. free 52.2 300 yd. free, 440 yd. free, 880 yd. free Outdoors 100 yd. free 52,0 Mission Viejo clocked 7:10.55 to 440 yd. free 5:22,5 Career Summary (1921-1928) smash its own 800 free relay mark, 1926 National Titles ............................ ; Outdoors 100 m. free 59,6 Worla Records ............................ the only distaff standard to fall. 440 yd. free 5:21.8 Olympic Gold Medals ...................... American records included the 1000 free (8:49.97, Jeff Kostoff, 22 Swimming World/June USS NATIONALS continued Industry Hills), 100 back (48.94, make the finals for both men and There were new faces emerging Dave Bottom, Walnut Creek women, this was the fastest short (Bottom, Kostoff, Tandem's Dara Aquabears) and 200 fly (1:43.81, course championship ever. The Torres, Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins' Craig Beardsley, Florida). U.S. men's cutoff for top eight was Nancy Nemet, Mid-Ohio's Dave Open records were set in the 200 quicker in every event save two Cowell, K.C. Blazers' Debbie Risen, back (1:45.22 by Sandor Wladar, (1500 free and 200 back) than it's Houston's Peng Siong-Ang) and Hungary) and 400 IM (3:47.97, ever been before. Women's top eight veterans maintaining their cham- Ricardo Prado of Brazil, swimming cuts were faster than last year in all pionship form (Caulkins, Jill with Mission Viejo). but the 50 free, 200 back, 100-200 Sterkel, Cynthia Woodhead, Tif- On the basis of what it took to breast and 200 fly. fany Cohen). ~,- Event Prelims Finals Points Tracy Caulkins: 1980Outdoors 1975 Outdoors 7-31 400 FR 6th 8.2o lO0 breast 32od -.-J-,--Vear'h"'v"'= r 8-1 800 FR 7th 8-2 400 MR 5th 1976 Indoors 4-1 100 breast 25th at Senior Nationals 1981 Indoors 4-2 40(] IM 31st 4-9 800 FR 3rd 4-3 ................