Swimming World Presents “Fun Swimming History Facts: United States and Soviet Union Dual Meets”

Did You Know?
USA-USSR Dual Meets

Fun Facts of Aquatics From ISHOF

By ISHOF’s Historian & Curator Bruce Wigo

The United States and the Soviet Union used to host a dual meet between the two nations that started in September 1971.

This set of meets was done to give the national team a chance to see the Olympic facilities in Munich, Germany the year before the 1972 Olympics.

The 1981 matchup turned out to be the closest score in the dual meet series between the two countries, with the United States winning 203-141. However, the Americans were without a few of their superstars in Tracy Caulkins, Jesse Vassallo and Matt Gribble. Despite the absence of those big names, Team USA won the men’s competition by 18 points, and the women’s by 44.

The Americans had boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games the year before in Moscow, so it was expected to be a tightly contested meet in Kiev. The Soviets showed up in better shape than in 1978, winning nine of the 29 events. But the Americans were still too strong, highlighted by a world record from American Craig Beardsley in the 200 meter fly.

Even with the boycott fresh in everyone’s mind, the 1981 meet was about the friendship between the two nations.

“Friendship first, competition second,” Soviet head coach Sergei Vaitsekovski told Swimming World in its October 1981 issue. “This meet is a stepping stone, a preparatory exercise for us. It gives us a good opportunity to compete against the finest swimmers in the world from the United States, and gets us ready for the meet that is most important to us, the European Championships.”

To read more about the USA-USSR dual meets,
check out the June 2019 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

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FEATURES

016 GLOBAL WARMING
by David Rieder, Dan D’Addona, Taylor Brien, Andy Ross, Erin Keaveny and Michael Randazzo
Expect the competition to heat up, July 12-28, as the world’s best aquatic athletes from all over the world converge on Kwangju, South Korea for the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships.

PREVIEW: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

016 WOMEN’S SWIMMING

019 MEN’S SWIMMING

024 OPEN WATER SWIMMING

025 DIVING

025 WATER POLO

027 ARTISTIC SWIMMING

028 SWEDISH SUPERSTAR
by David Rieder
Sarah Sjostrom’s swimming career has gone from teenage record-breaking dynamo to Olympic disappointment in 2012 to one of the world’s transcendent female swimmers. In Sweden, the 25-year-old is not ONE of her country’s swimming legends. She is THE legend.

031 REMEMBERING THE 1st WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – BELGRADE ’73
by Bruce Wigo
Swimming World takes a look back at the 1st FINA World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1973—what was behind the start of a world championship meet and the intrigue behind adding synchronized swimming to the program…and the numerous controversies that led up to the meet as well as the ones that followed.

034 NUTRITION: AROUND THE TABLE WITH MICHIGAN LAKESHORE AQUATICS
by Dan D’Addona and Dawn Weatherwax

COACHING

010 LESSONS WITH THE LEGENDS: DON REDDISH
by Michael J. Stott

014 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTIMAL MODEL FOR TECHNIQUE: PART 7—BODY BASE OF SUPPORT FOR FREESTYLE
by Rod Havriluk
Since hand force is directly related to swimming velocity, controlling the arm motion on the push phase during freestyle has great potential for almost every swimmer. Unfortunately, it is a substantial challenge to independently push the hand backward while the torso rotates upward.

036 PLAN B: COLLEGE CLUB TEAM OPTION (Part 1)
by Michael J. Stott
College Club Swimming has been offering more and more athletes the opportunity to continue participating in the sport they love. In this two-part series, Swimming World explores some personal perspectives from swimmers pursuing their aquatic passion while enjoying a college experience unencumbered by the demands of a varsity athlete.

041 SPECIAL SETS: BREASTSTROKE REVISITED
by Michael J. Stott
John Smithson, co-head coach at Quest Swimming in Richmond, Va., has coached multiple Olympic Trials qualifiers, state record holders and state champions. Last March, two of his 14-year-old swimmers took home wins in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Virginia State Short Course Championships. Here he talks about some of the breaststroke sets that have contributed to his team’s success.

043 Q&A WITH COACH KEVIN ZACHER
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN ASHLEY STROUSE
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

013 DRYSIDE TRAINING: EXERCISE EQUIPMENT SERIES—MEDICINE BALL AND CABLE EXERCISES
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

039 GOLDMINDS: THE 5 SUPERPOWERS OF PERFORMANCE
by Wayne Goldsmith
Passion, persistence, practice, patience and peace are all within your grasp!

046 UP & COMERS: KAYLA HAN
by Taylor Brien

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

009 BEYOND THE YARDS

033 DID YOU KNOW? USA-USSR DUAL MEETS

047 GUTTER TALK

048 PARTING SHOT

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Vadim Akhmadiev

4 years ago

We had USSR – GDR (German Democratic Republic) matches annually. And it was more important then European Championship on that time.