{"id":362410,"date":"2019-04-04T10:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=362410"},"modified":"2019-04-04T08:14:56","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T15:14:56","slug":"swimming-world-presents-the-greatest-swim-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimming-world-presents-the-greatest-swim-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming World Presents “The Greatest Swim in History”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greatest Swim in History<\/span><\/h1>\n

By ISHOF’s own Historian and Curator, Bruce Wigo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At the 1965 AAU Short Course Nationals, a capacity crowd of 3,000 thought they had just seen \u201cthe greatest swim in history.\u201d They cheered wildly for FIVE MINUTES after Steve Clark<\/strong> had broken the 46-second barrier in the 100 yard freestyle with a 45.6. After watching Caeleb Dressel\u2019s<\/strong> three barrier-breaking swims at last year\u2019s NCAAs\u2014and believing that Dressel can swim even faster\u2014Clark, now 75, believes \u201cthe greatest swim in history has yet to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I write this article, the 2019 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships have yet to take place, but in 2018, an American short course yards record was bettered 12 times at the men\u2019s NCAAs, with eight American records broken at the women\u2019s meet. If history provides any indication, we can expect similar results in Austin this year.<\/p>\n

Of course, the most sensational of the records from last year\u2019s collegiate championships were those set by Caeleb Dressel in the 50 and 100 yard free as well as the 100 fly\u2014all barrier-breaking swims.<\/p>\n

In the stands watching Dressel swim in Minneapolis last year was 74-year-old Steve Clark. If there is one name in the history of swimming I\u2019d compare to Caeleb Dressel, it\u2019s Clark\u2019s.<\/p>\n

When we compare history\u2019s times in swimming to those in running\u2014specifically, the 100-yard swim to the 400-meter run (which both take approximately the same amount of time)\u2014we see an incredible contrast.<\/p>\n

Since 1900, the world record for running the 400 has improved less than five seconds\u2014from 47.8y to 43.03, set by South Africa\u2019s Wayde van Niekerk at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Over the same period, swimming times for the 100 yard freestyle have improved by more than 20 seconds\u2014from 1:00.6 to Dressel\u2019s 39.90.<\/p>\n

How can one explain the incredible and continual improvement in swimming times while the record for the 400-meter run has stayed relatively stable for more than 50 years?…<\/p>\n

To continue reading the full Greatest Swim in History article,<\/strong>
\ncheck out the April 2019<\/a> issue of Swimming World Magazine<\/em>, available now!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swimming World subscribers can download this issue in the Swimming World Vault<\/span><\/a><\/span>!<\/p>\n

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