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IPC Swimming
World Championships 2002
By Jeff Gruen
Tuesday December 10, 2002
The IPC Swimming World Championships
Pilo Deportivo
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Session 1 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
For Team USA today is the fifth day here in Mar del Plata and the 33 athletes are ready to swim. Connecticut/Massachusetts are represented by two young swimmers and rookies in international competition: Michael Prout Jr., a 16 year old living in West Springfield (swims at Westfield State College) who swims at S9, and Deborah Gruen, also 15 years old from Hamden (swims with Hamden North Haven Y team) who swims at S7 (SB6 for breaststroke). Having endured one of the severest fall snowstorms in recent memory, the team convened at Washington’s Dulles airport where they regrouped from hometowns throughout the US to fly direct, and as a team, for Buenos Aires. After an uneventful 12 hour flight they took a 5 hour coach ride to the “sea of silver,” or Mar del Plata, the sight of the 1995 Pan American games. The meet will be held in that same venue, a state-of-the-art facility for the time, but now in some disrepair reflecting the difficult economic times plaguing Argentina. Their home for the next 12 days is the Hotel Costa Galana, a European-style and managed 5-star hotel on the busy La Rambla, the main artery fronting hotel way. The hotel is beautiful, as is the seaside city of 600,000 (pre-season), looking very much like the hotel strip on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The Hotel is across the street from the public beaches with miles of granite walkways for tourists and locals. The mornings are crowded with runners, walkers, and packs of hungry, but friendly stray dogs. The populace here has a penchant for dogs, mostly large ones and frequently shepherds.
Deb has the day off. For her the meet starts tomorrow morning with the 100 M freestyle. Michael has two events this morning: the 100 M butterfly and 4x100 M freestyle relay. This is a strong USA relay team and they could do well. Now it is time to see if the months and years of training will pay off.
Tuesday December 10, 2002
Session 2 – Final Heats 4:45pm
Michael Prout Jr. returns tonight for finals in the 4x100 freestyle relay. He did well this morning in the 100 M butterfly (1:09.54), and just missed making finals in that event by a single seed (he came in 9th). The temperature is more tolerable than this morning, though the humidity is still in the 90’s. The natación is crowded and noisy. The stands are full and the 500-plus athletes are crowded around the 10-lane 50-M pool. Other than the hundreds of wheelchairs, limb prosthetics, canes, and crutches scattered around the deck and warm-up pool, it looks and sounds like any other international championship complete with flags, regalia, anthems, and cheers in every language you could think of. Close races, like close races anywhere, bring the crowd to their feet, video cameras rolling, and screams reverberating under the aluminum roof. The USA 4x100 relay team starts with Michael, followed by Lance Lambeck, Travis Mohr, and anchored by Justin Zook. They do well, setting a new American record at 4:17.28, and 6th place.
Wednesday December 11, 2002
Session 3 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
Both Deborah and Michael have one individual event each. Michael will be competing in the 100 M backstroke S9. Deborah will compete at her first event in this meet: the 100 M freestyle S7. Deborah is well-rested but anxious for her first event. She will also be using her starting pole, a 6-foot pole cut from PVC by her home team swim coach to help her balance on the starting block. After examining the pole and watching her starts the IPC has ruled that she can use it in international competition. Deb will not be using a new track-style start she has been working on with her home team coach – at least not for this competition.
Wednesday December 11, 2002
Session 4 – Final Heats 4:45pm
Michael and Deb are here tonight supporting their teammates – both did well but not well enough to make finals. Michael did the 100 M backstroke S9 in 1:14.07, dropping almost a whole second from his previous best time. In the 100 M freestyle S7 Deb also got a personal best at 1:27.62, dropping almost a whole second from her previous best time, coming in 5th in her heat. She moved up 4 places from 14th seed to 10th and was an alternate for finals.
Team USA sits together in their own section next to the pool near the parents (but not too close). They remind each other to maintain hydration and talk about racing strategies. The athletes are all sporting the same USA blue t-shirts. After a week of eating, living, and practicing together they look like a team. In the first two days of competition, Team USA has won 10 medals: 4 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze.
Thursday December 12, 2002
Session 5 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
This morning’s temperature is 22°C (about 80°F) outside; add at least three degrees for the natatorium and another degree per tier here in the stands. It’s bright and sunny. Team USA got off to quick start capturing the number one seed for tonight’s final in the women’s 100 M breaststroke SB6 and the men’s 100 M breaststroke SB6, with outstanding first-place performances from Erin Popovitch (1:46.42 – new American record) and Tavis Mohr (1:33.17). In addition to these, two additional Americans are returning for finals in this event: Sarah Castle (1:57.18 – heat winner) and Deborah Gruen (2:08.38 – a personal best by 3 1/2 seconds). Michael Prout Jr. turned in a personal best for the 100 M freestyle S9, dropping a half second from his previous personal best and coming in 7th in his heat. The men’s 4x100 medley relay team, Jarret Perry (backstroke), Travis Mohr ( breaststoke), Michael Prout Jr. (butterfly), and Justin Zook (freestyle) finished first in the preliminary heats at 4:49.32, a new American record. They will be coming back tonight for finals.
We started having our first technical glitches of the meet last night when halfway through finals the starting buzzer died, necessitating whistle starts. But the major glitch of the meet has to be this morning’s fiasco concerning this session’s heat sheets. Nobody noticed that 4 events were missing in the coach’s copies and those swimmers are still resting in their hotel. The error affected several teams including USA, Poland, China, and the Netherlands. After some tense moments the IPC ruled that the error should not penalize the athletes and that these events will be incorporated later in this morning’s sessions – more than enough time to collect the athletes and bring them to the competition pool.
Thursday December 12, 2002
Session 6 – Final Heats 4:45pm
It was a 1-2-4 combination coming into finals tonight in the 100 meter breaststroke SB6 for American women Erin Popovitch, Sarah Castle, and Deborah Gruen. After setting a new personal best this morning she was delighted and surprised to make it to finals. But she knew beforehand that holding the fourth position would be difficult. It was a good race. Erin got gold and set a new world and American record with a 1:44.30. Sarah held her number two position with a 1:55.32. Deb made a new personal best time with a 2:08.02 and finished in 6th place. It’s the 400 meter freestyle tomorrow.
The men’s 400 medley relay team followed up this morning’s record performance with yet another American record tonight. Jarret Perry (backstroke), Travis Mohr (breaststroke), Michael Prout Jr. (butterfly), and Justin Zook (freestyle), cut nearly 3 seconds off the morning’s swim to finish with a 4:46.21 and 4th place.
Tonight Team USA added 7 medals to their cache of 10. There were three gold medals: Erin Popovitch in the 100 meter breaststroke (new American and World records), Travis Mohr in the 100 meter breaststroke, and Jennifer Johnson in the 200 meter freestyle. There were three silver medals: Sarah Castle in the 100 meter breaststroke, Kelley Crowley in the 100 meter freestyle, and the women’s 200 meter freestyle relay team of Angel Langer, Aimee Bruder, Brandi Van Anne, and Cheryl Angelelli. The women’s 200 meter freestyle relay team won the bronze: Sarah Castle, Mikhaila Rutherford, Erin Popovitch, and Kelley Crowley.
Friday December 13, 2002
Session 7 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
Heat sheets for each session are now being distributed to coaches at midnight. This morning, Deborah Gruen is disappointed because the 400 meter women’s freestyle event has been pushed directly to finals tonight – no preliminary heats. Even though Deb is the current American record holder for this event in the S7 classification and ranked third in the world, she would have liked to have tested the competition before finals. She is particularly wary of the number two seed, a young lady from Germany. Typically, she is taking the news in stride. Deb came the Pilo Deportivo on the early bus and practiced in the warm-up pool this morning, but is going back at 10:30am to rest for the day. She will be back at 4:00pm.
Michael Prout Jr. swam the 200 IM SM9 this morning. He was seeded 9th overall (6th in the first heat) with an entry time of 2:36.55. He finished at 2:36.93, 4th in heat and 9th seed. He will be an alternate for finals tonight in case there is a scratch or if one of the other swimmers are disqualified.
Friday December 13, 2002
Session 8 – Final Heats 4:45pm
Yet another hot night here in the pilo deportiva. Regardless the stands are full and the crown is rowdy. Team USA got off to a rocky start tonight with two disqualifications, one from this morning’s preliminary heats and one from tonight’s finals. Curtis Lovejoy swam the 50 meter butterfly S2, thought to have qualified for finals tonight, but was disqualified for non-simultaneous touch of the electronic touch pad. Jarrett Perry swam the 200 IM finals tonight but was disqualified for an illegal transitional kick. On the other hand, Team USA set four American records, three in preliminary heats this morning and one in finals tonight: Jarret Perry (200 IM), Curtis Lovejoy (50 meter backstroke), Michael DeMarco (50 meter backstroke), and Mikhaila Rutherford (200 meter IM).
After this morning’s preliminary heats, Michael Prout Jr. was an alternate in the 200 meter IM SM9, at 9th seed. But anything can happen in international competition, and Michael swam in finals tonight after another swimmer was disqualified. He moved up four slots to finish fifth with a personal best of 2:33.81.
Deborah Gruen came into tonight’s finals in the 400 meter freestyle S7 as the third seed with no preliminary heat this morning. She finished fourth with a personal best of 6:10.02, three seconds faster than her previous best time.
Tonight’s finishes brings the total medal count for Team USA to 22: 8 gold, 7 silver, and 7 bronze. Jennifer Johnson won her second gold medal in the 50 meter backstroke. Mikhaila Rutherford earned two silver medals, one for the 200 meter IM, and one in the 100 meter breaststroke. Kelley Crowley won a bronze in the 200 meter IM. The women’s 400 meter medley relay team also took bronze.
Saturday December 14, 2002
Session 9 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
More controversy from last night. There have been difficulties with teams getting complete heat sheets. Yesterday morning several teams lodged a protest that pages were missing from their daily heat sheets. Consistent with their previous ruling the IPC permitted those swimmers to have a supplemental heat in preliminary competition. The problem is that top swimmers from the supplemental heat dislodged swimmers thought to have made finals and by the time finals came around they were hopping. Jeers from the crowd were so loud that the swimmers could hear the start. The meet was stopped and like a reprimand in grade school, the crowd threatened by the meet director. It was almost 8:00pm, everyone was hot, sweaty, tired, and wanted to get out. Ultimately things quieted down long enough to start and the meet finished.
Michael Prout Jr. is scheduled to swim the men’s 400 meter freestyle this morning. He faces a strong field of S9 swimmers in three heats. Michael will be swimming in the second heat. He is seeded 3rd overall with a best time of 4:35.03. He will be in lane 4, next Jarret Perry, another strong S9 US swimmer.
Deborah Gruen has another bye this morning and will be competing in finals tonight in the women’s 200 meter IM SM7. She is seeded 8th overall with a best previous time of 3:47.05. Also swimming in this event is Erin Popovitch, a gold medal winner from last night, seeded third with a best time of 3:27.70.
As of last night Team USA was fifth in the number of medals earned at these games.
Saturday December 14, 2002
Session 10 – Final Heats 4:45pm
It’s been overcast most of the day today, but still hot with temps hovering in the mid-80’s. The humidity never lets up and we even got a few welcome showers. This morning Michael was seeded second for the 400 meter freestyle. Tonight he finished in fourth place with a time of 4:37.18.
Deborah Gruen paraded out with her group in finals tonight for the women’s 200 meter IM, seeded in 7th place at an entry time of 3:47.05. The top seed in this S7 final is 3:16.27. Deb finished in 7th place with a time of 3:46.09, a new personal best by almost a second.
The medal count for Team USA increased to 27 tonight with the addition of 2 silver from Erin Popovitch (200 meter IM), Curtis Lovejoy (50 meter breaststroke), and 4 bronze from Justin Zook (400 meter freestyle), Kelley Crowley (400 meter breaststroke), Michael DeMarco (50 meter breaststroke), and Jennifer Butcher (50 meter freestyle). The total puts them in fifth place behind the UK with 60 medals, Spain with 40, Canada with 35, and China with 28.
Sunday December 15, 2002
Session 11 – Preliminary Heats 9:45am
It’s hot and steamy this morning – perhaps the hottest day of the meet so far. Today marks the last day of the indoor events. Tomorrow, the final day of the meet, will be an open water 3 mile swim open to all classifications.
Michael Prout is finished with the indoor events. He is looking forward to swimming tomorrow in the open water swim.
Deborah Gruen has two preliminary events scheduled for today. Early on she has the 50 meter freestyle S7, and later in the morning the 50 meter butterfly S7. In the 50 meter freestyle, Deb is seeded 13th overall in a field of 14 swimmers with a previous best time of 42.02. She finishes in 7th place in her heat with a time of 42.83. In the 50 meter butterfly, Deb is seeded 9th with a previous best time of 48.91. She finishes third in her heat with a new personal best time of 48.06, almost a full second faster than her previous best. She will be coming back for finals in this event tonight seeded 5th.
Sunday December 15, 2002
Session 12 – Final Heats 4:45pm
This is the final session for the indoor events in this year’s IPC Swimming World Championships. For Deborah Gruen, this is her fourth and last swim in a final heat after three previous appearances in the 100 meter breaststroke, 400 meter freestyle, and 200 meter individual medley with six personal best times. She will not be swimming in the three mile open water swim off the sandy beaches of Mar del Plata tomorrow (Monday) morning. On Tuesday, Team USA will be boarding a chartered coach for the five hour ride to Buenos Aires, then onto United Airlines Flight 864 for Dulles. At Dulles, each athlete will board flights to their respective homes in Georgia, Connecticut, Alabama, California, Oregon, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, and Montana.
For tonight’s finals in the women’s 50 meter butterfly S7, Deb is seeded in 5th place, putting her in lane 7. Also swimming in this event is Erin Popovitch, the current American record holder, in lane 4 and 1st seed. Deb sets another personal best at 47.40, dropping more than a half a second from the morning’s best time and finishing 5th. Erin takes the silver medal with a time of 40.03.
Monday December 16, 2002
The IPC Swimming World Championships
Playa
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Session 13 – Open Water Swim 9:45am
It is cool and windy this morning with a gray cloud cover over the beach. There was a heavy rainstorm last night and the municipal street cleaners are shoveling sand from the miles of beachfront roads. There are 4-to-6 foot swells in the distant open water, though more like to 2-to-4 feet closer to shore. The local shore patrol has set-up a 1 mile triangular course for the swimmers, marked by large orange buoys. The most distant buoy has a helium-filled balloon that hopefully the swimmers will be able to spot from the water. The shore patrol also has several launches and water bikes to haul swimmers in if they become overwhelmed from the cold or fatigued by the swells. The water temperature is around 70degrees Fahrenheit – too cold for the UK and Canadian teams who have pulled out of this event. IOC and IPC rules do not permit wet suits.
There are about 30 swimmers lined up at the start in the surf, 50 meters from the sand. A loud cannon signals the start and all plunge headlong into the green water that is muddy from last night’s storm. There are six swimmers from Team USA, including 16 year old Michael Prout Jr. from West Springfield. This is Michael’s first open water swim. After the first lap around the triangular course the speedboats begin hauling in swimmers who are then carried in litters to the makeshift medical pavilion. There, a dozen purple swimmers shiver despite being wrapped in thermal and woolen blankets, hypothermic from the cool water. Through chattering teeth the 6 or 7 seven languages spoken by the shaking athletes sound the same. Three swimmers from Team USA are pulled from the course: Justin Zook (17), Rudy Garcia-Tolson (14), and Michael Prout Jr. After a couple of hours out of the cool ocean breeze, rubdowns, and warm drinking water, all the swimmers recover. A young American woman, Mikhaila Rutherford (14) takes the silver medal in her first attempt at an open water swim. Mikhaila is presented her medal on the beach at the final medal ceremonies marking the official end of the Swimming World Championships.
For the entire meet Team USA finished fifth in the overall medal count with a total of 33 medals (9 gold, 12 silver, and 12 bronze), behind the UK, Spain, Canada, and China. They set a total of two world and 43 American records throughout the seven days of competition.
Tonight: a party at a local disco for all of the athletes (parents not invited).
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