{"id":143124,"date":"2015-07-13T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T21:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=143124"},"modified":"2015-09-21T11:03:53","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T18:03:53","slug":"recollections-of-swimming-at-1991-pan-american-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/recollections-of-swimming-at-1991-pan-american-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Recollections Of Swimming At 1991 Pan American Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coverage of the 2015 Pan American Games is sponsored by Triton Wear<\/a>. Visit Swimming World\u2019s event landing page<\/a> for results and more!<\/i><\/p>\n

Commentary by Jeff Commings, Swimming World Senior Writer<\/i><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

From the time I was notified that I made the team \u2013 about 15 minutes after placing third in the 100 breast at the 1991 spring nationals \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

The squad headed to Havana was essentially USA Swimming\u2019s \u201cB\u201d 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<\/strong> to help us pad the gold medal tally.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, who was the most experienced guy on the team, would be the men\u2019s captain. He\u2019d gone to the 1988 Olympics in the 200 back and was a natural leader.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cThe Terminator,\u201d which had opened in the United States seven years earlier.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Chris Martin<\/strong>, who was the head coach at Peddie then, was my direct coach. He was in charge of the breaststrokers, and for good reason. He\u2019d done great things with Nelson Deibel<\/strong>, 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<\/strong> and Joe Bernal<\/strong>. At the time, David Marsh<\/strong> was starting to make his mark as a college coach at Auburn, and he was great at inspiring us to be our best.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>. Adam Schmitt<\/strong> and Bob Utley<\/strong> were sprinters, but worlds apart in terms of personality. My roommate was Brad Bridgewater<\/strong>, a future Olympic gold medalist in the 200 back who would be my teammate at the University of Texas when we returned home.<\/p>\n

\"Pan<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Jeff Commings<\/p><\/div>\n

I swam the 100 breast on the first day. It was the first men\u2019s 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<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

I was a little worried that I might not get a medal. I knew my American teammate Hans Dersch<\/strong> would do well, and Puerto Rico\u2019s Todd Torres<\/strong> could potentially prevent a 1-2 American sweep. I was so nervous that I slept very little between prelims and finals.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t in first place, but Hans Dersch wasn\u2019t too far ahead. I felt that I could catch him. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t beat him.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d played. Though the anthem wasn\u2019t technically playing for me, I felt a sense of pride and overwhelming emotion.<\/p>\n

100 breast final at 1991 Pan American Games (Commings in third lane from top of screen)<\/strong>
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