Recollections Of Swimming At 1991 Pan American Games

Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

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Commentary by Jeff Commings, Swimming World Senior Writer

Being a part of the 1991 Pan American swim team for the United States has remained the highlight of my 37-year swimming career. It was a historic trip to Havana, Cuba, and my only time representing the Stars and Stripes at the senior elite international level.

From the time I was notified that I made the team – about 15 minutes after placing third in the 100 breast at the 1991 spring nationals – I felt like I was in a continual dream state. It had seemed surreal that I had placed third at nationals, and now I was told that I would get to race against some of the best swimmers from the Americas and the Caribbean that summer. I was 17 years old at the time, and though I had swum outside the United States twice as a member of the national junior team, this was going to be an entirely different experience.

The squad headed to Havana was essentially USA Swimming’s “B” team. The top athletes were going north to Canada for the Pan Pacific championships, but none of us felt like the second tier. We were going to win as many medals as possible, though we would have needed people like Matt Biondi to help us pad the gold medal tally.

A few swimmers on the Pan Am team were also on my first junior team, so it was nice to know people when I arrived in Miami a week before the meet for meetings and training. Our first order of business was to appoint team captains. It was virtually assured that Dan Veatch, who was the most experienced guy on the team, would be the men’s captain. He’d gone to the 1988 Olympics in the 200 back and was a natural leader.

Before we took off for Havana, we were also told we would be the first Americans allowed in the country since the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s. A lot of us joked that Cuba might not be ready for us, and we might not be ready for Cuba.

Cuba was ready for us. In the days leading up to the meet, we toured Havana and found that the citizens loved us. Everything in Havana looked like it was in a time capsule. It seemed like technological and social progress stopped in the 1960s. None of the cars looked modern. Many homes were in need of repair. A local movie theater was showing “The Terminator,” which had opened in the United States seven years earlier.

In hindsight, it might not have been a great idea to spend an entire day walking around town just before a major competition. When you are preparing for a meet, it’s always best to allow your body as much time as possible to recover and rebuild for optimal performance. Walking around town in the Cuban heat probably negated a lot of my preparation.

Chris Martin, who was the head coach at Peddie then, was my direct coach. He was in charge of the breaststrokers, and for good reason. He’d done great things with Nelson Deibel, who was swimming the 200 breast in Cuba and would win the 100 breast Olympic gold medal in 1992. I got a lot of input from the other coaches there, including the great Richard Shoulberg and Joe Bernal. At the time, David Marsh was starting to make his mark as a college coach at Auburn, and he was great at inspiring us to be our best.

The swimming competition took place on the final seven days of the Pan American Games, so we were among the last athletes to arrive in Havana. The athletes’ village, and many of the competition venues, were constructed outside Havana, and it was obvious that many of the facilities had been completed mere days before Pan Ams began. There was little to no landscaping, and most of the floors still had a layer of construction dirt on them. The pool was more than adequate, but you could tell that it was about 98 percent complete. But, all we needed was a clean pool and a working scoreboard.

I lived in a suite of three bedrooms with five other swimmers. Dan Veatch was in the suite, as well as another 1988 Olympian, Mark Dean. Adam Schmitt and Bob Utley were sprinters, but worlds apart in terms of personality. My roommate was Brad Bridgewater, a future Olympic gold medalist in the 200 back who would be my teammate at the University of Texas when we returned home.

Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

I swam the 100 breast on the first day. It was the first men’s event, which meant I had no time to adjust to the racing atmosphere. I had a Cuban swimmer in the lane next to me for prelims, and the crowd went wild for Pedro Hernandez. The race felt horrible. I never found a groove in my stroke, and I felt like I took 100 strokes in the race, but I managed to win the heat and qualify third for the final.

I was a little worried that I might not get a medal. I knew my American teammate Hans Dersch would do well, and Puerto Rico’s Todd Torres could potentially prevent a 1-2 American sweep. I was so nervous that I slept very little between prelims and finals.

Walking out to the starting blocks was an exciting moment. The championship final included two Cubans, so the crowd was cheering loudly for Hernandez and Mario Gonzalez. I had been a part of many parades to the blocks, but this was one felt very intense. My heart was beating pretty quick, and I took some deep breaths to control it.

The race went by in a blur. Before I knew it, I was at the 50-meter wall and turning for the finish. I wasn’t in first place, but Hans Dersch wasn’t too far ahead. I felt that I could catch him. I wasn’t sure if Todd Torres was also ahead of me, because Hans blocked my view of him on the turn. I just did my best to get to the wall as fast as I could. I could sense I was catching Hans, but with five meters to go, I knew I wouldn’t beat him.

I got third in the final, which made me happy and sad. I was happy because I had won a bronze medal. I was sad because my best time would have won the race. Hans Dersch won the gold medal and Todd Torres won the silver medal. I stood on the awards platform with my bronze medal around my neck, watching the American flags and Puerto Rican flags rise as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played. Though the anthem wasn’t technically playing for me, I felt a sense of pride and overwhelming emotion.

100 breast final at 1991 Pan American Games (Commings in third lane from top of screen)

Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

I had no swims until the prelims of the 400 medley relay on the final day, so I spent the rest of the meet cheering loudly for my teammates. It was great to watch the United States win so many events, and my fairly limited scope of world swimming at the time meant I was shocked that other countries had swimmers that could beat anyone from the United States. Gustavo Borges made big waves in Cuba, winning the 100 freestyle. I got to meet Anthony Nesty from Suriname, the reigning 100 fly Olympic champion, which was a major highlight.

On the meet’s fifth day, Mario Gonzalez did the unthinkable: He beat two Americans in the 200 breast to give Cuba its only swimming gold medal. Though the spectator seating capacity was only about 3,000, you could have sworn 20,000 people were in the building. The pace erupted with cheers for a long time after the race, as Gonzalez waved to the crowd.

Just before the awards ceremony for the 200 breast, the crowd was still buzzing. And moments before the medals were handed out, Fidel Castro appeared. The crowd went nuts. Swimmers and coaches on deck scrambled for their cameras. Sadly, I had forgotten mine in my room. But it was still a thrill to see Castro hand out the medals and hear the crowd sing the Cuban national anthem as if they were attempting to make it heard 90 miles away in the United States. I can only imagine how Mario was treated in the days and weeks following the meet.

Because I was the second-fastest American in the 100 breast, I handled prelim duties of the 400 medley relay on the last day. I swam three tenths faster than my flat start 100 breast, which was OK. All we needed to do was give our teammates a lane in the final, and it was fun to swim on the relay with Bobby Brewer, Jim Harvey and John Miranda. The Americans won gold in the final, which made me feel good. Prelim relay swimmers didn’t get medals, but I was proud to have been a part of the process.

Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

I made a lot of friends on that Pan Am team, many of whom I stay in touch with regularly. Some of them have become notable swim coaches, including Ray Looze, Dorsey Tierney and Jody Braden. Of course, I wonder what’s happened with many of those who I haven’t seen or heard from since they retired from swimming, but the memories of those two weeks will stay with me forever.

1991 Pan American Games photo gallery

Pan-Am-pool Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Church Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Pan Am dining hall Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

100 breast medal — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Dan Veatch and Cuban kids Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Brad Bridgewater Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Mary T Meagher Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Team on deck Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Touring Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Head coaches Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Coaches Pan American Games — Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings

Portions of this article were taken from Commings’ book Odd Man Out – An Autobiography: True Stories Of a Gay Black Swimmer. You can purchase a paperback copy here and download your copy on Kindle here.

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