Each day through August 4, Jeff Commings will take you back 30 years to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, highlighting one of that day\u2019s swimming events that continues to be a benchmark for the current culture of the sport. A full list of medalists from that day\u2019s competition follows at the end of the article.<\/i><\/p>\n
Feature by Jeff Commings<\/i><\/p>\n
PHOENIX, Arizona, July 30. WHICH swimming event at the 1984 Olympic Games featured the \u201cGrossbusters?\u201d<\/p>\n
— 100 butterfly
\n— 800 free relay
\n— 400 free relay<\/p>\n
Read on for the answer.<\/p>\n
The second day of swimming competition at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was not a banner day for the American men. In the two individual events swum at the McDonald\u2019s Swim Stadium, the Americans won only one medal: silver by Pablo Morales in the 100 fly.<\/p>\n
Morales went into the 100 fly final as the world record holder and the favorite to win gold on his home turf. But the day after setting a world record in the 200 freestyle, West Germany\u2019s Michael Gross was on a mission. The Albatross, as Gross was known, knocked Morales off the top of the podium with a win in the 100 fly to start the day\u2019s finals. Gross\u2019 53.08 beat Morales\u2019 world record of 53.38. Morales also dipped under his former record, but had to settle for silver.<\/p>\n
Add to that zero medals for Team USA in the men\u2019s 400 IM, and the United States was hungry for revenge. It came in the 800 free relay, though not easily. Here\u2019s how Swimming World Magazine detailed the race in the September 1984 issue:<\/p>\n
The last time the United States lost an Olympic 800 free relay was 1956, when Australia clobbered the Americans 8:23.6-8:31.5. And it wasn\u2019t just the relay the Americans felt proprietary about: until Gross edged Pablo Morales earlier in the afternoon for the world record and gold medal, the United States had never lost an Olympic 100 fly final, either.<\/i><\/p>\n
So the relay meant a lot \u2026 At the start, (Mike) heath wasted no time getting down to business. He led at the 100 and didn\u2019t look back. \u2026 Heath touched in 1:48.67 to (Thomas) Fahrner\u2019s 1:49.83, and (David) Larson jumped in to do his job. Perhaps a little too excited, Larson split 51.29 for his first 100, extending the USA\u2019s lead over the Germans to 2.87 seconds at 300 meters.<\/p>\n
As (Jeff) Float drove down the final lap of his leg, the crowd was in a frenzy. No one had to be reminded who was on the block next to (Bruce) Hayes \u2013 least of all Hayes himself. A huge roar went up from perhaps some 10,000 voices as Hayes took off a second-and-a-half in front of Gross.<\/p>\n
The anchor leg between Gross and Hayes is destined to go down in swimming lore as one of the greatest battles of all time. Merely by diving in, Gross narrowed the gap by half. By the end of the first lap, he was even with Hayes.<\/p>\n
\u201cGross paid too much to catch Bruce that early,\u201d (head coach Don) Gambril would say later of Gross\u2019 sizzling first 50. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we wanted him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
With one lap to go, Gross had finally passed Hayes. The entire crowd was on its feet. \u2026 In the middle of the last lap, Hayes\u2019 head pulled even with Gross\u2019 \u2013 but Hayes\u2019 arms were considerably shorter. The last 10 meters were a tossup. The two reached for the wall. Hayes stretched underwater. The American team, seated 35 meters away across the diving well, couldn\u2019t see the finish at all. It didn\u2019t matter; only the touchpad could tell the difference. The crowd exploded, tentatively, when Hayes touched, then roared when the scoreboard lit up with a \u201c1\u201d next to the USA\u2019s world record time of 7:15.69.<\/p>\n
Hayes split 1:48.41, compared to his fastest individual time ever of 1:49.82. The Germans were an eyelash back at 7:15.73. Gross had turned in an incredible 1:46.89 split, the fastest ever.<\/p>\n
With the very popular film \u201cGhostbusters\u201d released almost two months earlier, it didn\u2019t take long for a nickname to be born. The American foursome were dubbed \u201cGrossbusters\u201d for their heroic efforts.<\/p>\n
Watch footage of the race:<\/b><\/p>\n