ACOG - News - IBM

(28 July 1996; Day 09)

Fast Pool, Fast Swimmers Have Records Falling

The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center has lived up to its billing as the fastest pool in the world. With its deep water and specially designed lane lines which create a glass-like surface, the pool allowed the record books to be continually rewritten throughout the seven days of the 1996 Olympic swimming competition. Capacity crowds witnessed the establishment of 267 national, 29 area, 12 Olympic and four world records.

Fred DEBURGHGRAEVE of Belarus started the assault on world record times in his first heat of the 100m breaststroke. He went on to capture his country's first gold medal in swimming. Penny HEYNES (RSA) rewrote the women's 100m breaststroke time clocked at 1:07.02 en route to her first gold medal of the competition and South Africa's first gold medal in swimming. Denis PANKROTOV (RUS), the world record holder in the 100 butterfly, lowered his own mark to 52.27, winning his first of two gold medals. The fourth world record was produced in the final race of the swimming competition and in front of a home crowd. The United States foursome of Jeff ROUSE, Jeremy LINN, Mark HENDERSON and Gary HALL, Jr. swam a world record time of 3:34.84 in the

4 X 100m medley relay.

The "Russian Rocket," Aleksandr POPOV, proved that he was the fastest swimmer in the world by doubling his gold-medal count in both the 50m and 100m freestyle. His back-to-back titles in the 100m freestyle were the first recorded since John WEISSMULLER (USA) did it in 1924 and 1928. His 50m freestyle victory marked the first time a swimmer had won two consecutive golds in this event.

Ireland's Michelle SMITH joined an elite group of swimmers in winning three individual gold medals in a single year. Her first gold in the 400m individual medley was the first swimming gold for Ireland.

The United States dominated the medal count by collecting 13 gold, 11 silver, two bronze for a total of 26. The next nearest total was eight medals by the Russian Federation.

Amy VAN DYKEN became the first U. S. woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. On Monday she anchored the 400 freestyle relay team; Tuesday she won the 100m butterfly; Wednesday she swam the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay and on Friday she topped it off by defeating the world record holder in the 50m freestyle.

Krisztina EGERSZEGI (HUN), Franziska VAN ALMSICK (GER), and Dagmar HASE (GER) moved into the second position for most swimming medals in an Olympic career with seven. Angel MARTINO and Jenny THOMPSON of the United States moved into third with six. Three women share the honor for the most career medals with eight. Shirley BABASHOFF (USA), won her medals in 1972 and 1976; Kornelia ENDER (GER) also won her medals in 1972 and 1976; and Dawn FRASER (AUS) won her medals in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

The United States also dominated the relay events, collecting gold in all six competitions.

The story of the 1996 Games was EGERSZEGI's accomplishment in the 200m backstroke. Her gold-medal performance brought her to the forefront of a legacy which has followed her for the past 12 years. In Seoul, she won her first 200m backstroke gold. In Barcelona, she became the youngest swimmer in history to win three individual gold medals. She did this in the 100m and 200m backstroke and 400 individual medley. In Atlanta she became the first swimmer in Olympic history to win three gold medals in the same event by crushing the final field in the 200m backstroke. She also became the first woman to win six individual medals, and is second in all-time medals won with seven. She joins the elite group of Matt BIONDI, Tom JAGER, Charles DANIELS, all of the United States, and Australia's Dawn FRASER as the only swimmers to win three gold medals in three consecutive Olympics. EGERSZEGI's legacy will be the standard by which backstrokers will be forever compared.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by David Blanchard.


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Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.