TRACY CAULKINS: SHE'S NO. 1 - Swimming World Magazine

USS NATIONALS continuedDave Bottom was tops in the 100 back-- the first under 49 seconds.stay in control of the race and not lose my stroke."WCAB coach Mike Troy, himself an Olympic goldmedalist (200 butterfly at Rome) summed up his swimmer'ssuccess rather succinctly when he said: "The topof the Bottoms is now on top.'"And Engs, another Stanford man who was third inthe NCAA 200 back two weeks earlier, prodded thatsame reporter: "Now do you believe he's the best'?.'"Yes, John, the results speak for themselves.200 BackAMERICAN AND U.S. OPEN RECORDRick Carey, Texas (3-6-82) 24.60 51.02 1:17.85 1:45.80DEFENDING SHORT COURSE CHAMPION (Cambridge, 4-8-81)Rick Carey, Badger Swim Club 24.77 51.74 1:18.63 1:46.00DEFENDING LONG COURSE CHAMPION (Brown Deer, 6.13-81)Rick Carey, Badger Swim Club1982 FINALISTS (April 7, 1982)Sandor Wladar. 18. HungaryRick Carey, 19. BadgerSteve Barnicoal 20. Mission ViejoJesse Vassallo. 26. Mission Viejok,lark Rhodenbaugh, 17. CPMF~icardo Prado. 17. Mission ViejoFIichie Hughey, 18, DynamoPat Kennedy. 18. No. Baltimore° U.S. Open Record24.62 50.98 1:17.78 1:45.22"24.44 51.09 1:18.12 1:46.0025.07 52.30 1:18.93 1:46.6325.62 52.83 1:19.54 1:47.9825.28 83.24 1:20.73 1:48.7325.88 53.59 1:21.39 1:49.0924.95 52.26 1:20.42 1:50.1325.93 54.07 1:22.44 1:51.17The third time was the charm for Sandor Wladar.Third in the 200 back at the U.S. Nationals in 1979 asa mere 16 year old (and having never swum yardsbefore), Wladar moved up into the No. 2 position lastyear. This year he hit the jackpot No. 1 with.a U.S.Open record 1:45.22.The name Wladar may not be a familiar one toAmericans but in Europe he's the toast of the continentafter his two gold medals in the Moscow Olympics andhis double at the European Championships in Split lastSeptember.Those latter two victories enabled the Hungarianchampion to gain the necessary advantage over thecompetition to be voted Swimming World's male EuropeanSwimmer of the Year in 1981. So far this year, hehas gone 2:02 for the 200 back Ilong course meters) acouple of weeks before the U.S. Nationals in his nativeBudapest at the Elektro-Impex meeting. And if hisshowing at Gainesville is any indication of what he'll dothis summer at the World Championships, then hisleading opposition for the 200 back title had better takenotice.Badger's Rick Carey, who swam an American recordof 1:46.00 while winning last year, then shattered thatwith a 1:45.80 effort during the Southwest ConferenceChampionships last March swimming for Texas, hardlyrolled over and played dead for Wladar.Indeed, he clocked 1:46.00 for second, just tw0-tenthsoff his career best and one-hundredth faster than hiswinning effort at his inaugural NCAA Championshipstwo weeks earlier.Mission's Steve Barnicoat, 1980 U.S. Olympic Trialswinner, was third here (career-best 1:46.63, sixth on theall-time list) and teammate Jesse Vassallo, defendinglong course champ, was fourth (1:47.98).Only swimming yards for the third time in his life,Wladar was nevertheless superb. He qualified a tenthbehind Carey's leading 1:46.91 (the only two prelimtimes under 1:48.0). In the finals, after spotting Careythe edge for the first 50 (24.44 to 24.62), Wladar tookcommand at about the 60-yard mark and was neverheaded. At 100 yards he led by 11-hundredths (50.98 to51.09) to the surprise of virtually everyone at the pooland the Olympic champion just built his advantage thefinal 100.By 150 yards Wladar was ahead 1:17.78 to 1:18.12and, withstanding Carey's furious finish, he touched inhis U.S. Open record 1:45.22. CalTey's 1:46.00 ties hissecond-best 200 and, of course, his American record1:45.80 still stands.Carey's coach, Badger's John Collins, speculatecl thenext morning that the defeat may have had a soberingeffect upon his swimmer."Rick's had things pretty much his own way the lastyear and for this guy (Wladar) to come over here andbeat him at his own game could be the best thing that'sever happened. Now maybe Ricky'll see that to becomea world champion or an Olympic gold medalist he's gotto be a little less arrogant," the coach said.Wladar's coach, veteran Hungarian Olympic mentorTamas Szechy, said he thought perhaps Carey was a bittired from the college season. "But whether or not he(Carey) was not at his best, our man was. That's all thatcounts. It (the victory) means a great deal to us becausewe accomplished it on your own turf, so to speak. Ithought Sandor swam a very strong race and he showedhe's ready to face all competition," Szechy added."I planned on winning," a relaxed Wladar said theMonday after the meet while lounging around the poolat the Gainesville Holiday Inn with teammates AndrasHargitay and Alban Vermes. "I was third three yearsago and second last year, so this year I had to be first." m.,Swimming World/June 33