Tri-County swimmers better than Olympians

Watching the swimming events in the Olympics, it is amazing that Michael Phelps can break a record nearly every time he jumps into the pool.

In winning five gold medals, two of them relays, Phelps was part of five world records. You begin to wonder exactly how much faster swimmers can go.

Back when the first modern Olympics were held in 1896, times were much slower than they are today. Better training, better coaching, better nutrition and better equipment have all helped to lower times considerably.

So how much lower are the times in 2008 compared to 1896? One example is the men’s 100 meter freestyle. Phelps did not compete in this event and it was won by Alain Bernard of France in a time of 47.21 seconds.

Compare that to the winning time of Alfred Hajos of Hungary who won the gold in 1896 in the 100 meter freestyle in 1 minute, 22.2 seconds – nearly 35 seconds slower than Brainerd’s time.

Even more interesting is comparing the swimming times from the early Olympics to the winning times set by swimmers from the Tri-County area at the North Valley Aquatic League finals last week.

First, there are some differences between the 100 meters swam at the Olympics and the 100 yards swam at the NVAL finals. Obviously one is measured in meters and the other is in yards. Additionally, the NVAL finals were in a short course pool and the Olympics are in a long course pool.

But through the miracle of the Internet, we can use a time conversion utility that converts times from a short course measured in yards to a long course measured in meters.

So how do the locals stack up? Pretty well.

Let’s start with Molly Bateman of Willows. The 11-year-old swimmer finished third in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 59.31 seconds. That equates to 1:07.86 over 100 meters. That time would have been good enough for Bateman to win the gold medal at the 1896, 1906 and 1908 Olympics – in the men’s division!

Bateman would have won a gold medal in the women’s division from 1912, when they first had women’s swimming, to 1928. She also would have held the world record. Albina Osipowich of the United States won the 1928 gold medal in the 100 freestyle in 1:11, which was a world record at the time.

So what about the top female swimmer from the Tri-County area? That would be Christa Prior of Willows, who swam the 100 yard freestyle in 53.93 seconds. That equates to 1:01.70 in a long course event.

That time would have beaten Duke Kahanamoku at the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm. Kahanamoku won the gold medal that year and set a men’s world record with a time of 1:02.4 at the age of 21.

Kahanamoku was selected by Sports Illustrated in the year 2000 as Hawaii’s greatest athlete of the 20th century. No one in Olympic history has won more 100-meter freestyle medals than Kahanamoku. He won five medals in three Olympics and is considered the father of modern surfing.

Yet in 1912, his time in the 100 meter freestyle would not have beaten Prior.

Kahanamoku’s time in 1920 and 1924 would have beaten Prior, however she would have at least won the bronze in 1920 and 1924.

In the women’s division, Prior’s time would have been good enough to win every gold medal up until 1960, when New Zealand’s Dawn Fraser, one of the great Olympic swimmers of all time, set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:01.2. However, Prior would have defeated Fraser in 1956, when Fraser won the gold with a world record time of 1:02.0.

For the local boys, Stephen Batchelder of Orland had the fastest 100 yard freestyle time of 50.93 seconds at the NVAL finals. That converts to 59.02 seconds over a 100-meter long course.

Batchelder would have won every gold medal up through the 1920 games. Actually it would have been very close in 1924. Johnny Weismuller, who would go on to fame as Tarzan in the movies, won the gold medal in Paris that year in a time of 59.0 seconds to set a new Olympic record.

Perhaps the most impressive performance came from Mallory McGowan of Colusa two weeks ago at the Junior Olympics in Redding. She won the 200-meter breast stroke on a 50-meter pool with a time of 2:43.71. That time would have been good enough to win the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics and it would have set an Olympic record. Her time would have also won the men’s Olympic gold medal in every Olympics up through 1932.

So local swimmers shouldn’t give up their dream of some day winning Olympic gold. In one sense, they’ve already defeated the very best in the world.