Broken Records

The world's best free-style swimmers are Australia's John Marshall and Japan's Hironoshin Furuhashi, "the flying fish of Fujiyama." Furuhashi holds the world records for 800 yards and 1,500 meters; Yale's Marshall holds eight of the other ten.* After setting his two latest records in the N.C.A.A. championships a fortnight ago (TIME, April 9), Marshall modestly remarked, "Furuhashi is still the greatest." But last week, in the National A.A.U. indoor championships, Marshall gave himself good reason to eat his own words.

Flailing through the water with a style that makes up in power what it lacks in grace, Marshall foamed up & down Ohio State's 25-yd. pool after Furuhashi's 1,500 record, hitting the turns after only 17 sweeping strokes (20 is standard).

As he slapped the finish, the dockers gaped. The time: 18:10.8, fastest 1,500 meters ever. It was a full 56 seconds better than the old A.A.U. record set by Jack Medica in 1936, and it bettered Furuhashi's world mark by a fat 8.2 seconds.

After that, Marshall's performance was almost an anticlimax. As defending champion he won the 220-and 440-yd. freestyle events, without breaking either of his existing records. But Marshall's three wins brought the team total of the New Haven Swimming Club (made up of Yale graduates, varsity and freshman swimmers) to 133 points. Runner-up: Ohio State with 58.

Other winners:

CJ Australia's (and Michigan's) Jerry Davies, who upset Princeton's Bob Brawner, defending champion and 200-yd. world record holder, in the 220-yd. breast stroke. CJ Hawaii's (and Ohio State's) Dick Cleveland, holder of the unofficial world record for the 100-yd. free-style (0:49.6), who took the A.A.U. event in 0:50. P:Ohio State's Jack Taylor, who edged out Yale's Olympic winner, Allen Stack, in the 100-yd. backstroke by a wrist flip. P:The N.H.S.C. 400-yd. free-style relay quartet (Dick Thoman, Don Scheff, Bill Farnsworth and Ray Reid), which set a world record 3:23 in the event. Old record: 3:23.8, set by the 1948 N.H.S.C.

A watchful spectator through the whole record-smashing meet was Yale's Bob Kiphuth, coach of the 1948 Olympic swimming team which scored an unprecedented sweep of every event. Said Kiphuth afterward: "The 1952 Olympic team will be much better than we had before. But the competition will be tougher, too. The Japanese will be there." Kiphuth neglected to mention that the prodigious Marshall of Yale will also be there--swimming for Australia.

*Yale's Alan Ford holds the others: the 100-yd. and 100-meter events.

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