I'm starting to get suspicious that Gad embellishes the events of his life. He's described a lot of really interesting life events.
People who know me realize I've lived a lot of lives. Eternal wanderer and it's only been over the last 5 years I've come to understand why.
If you're talking here about the '68 games, my brother was part of a powerhouse class at Cal State Long Beach. Can't recall the coach's name but believe either that year or another, he was also the Olympic coach. In just looking for him, I came across this article,
talking about the trials and Spitz. The Belmont pool, in which I competed quite a bit myself, was in my view a "fast" but in some respects a terrible pool - with maddeningly slippery walls. Doesn't matter as much in freestyle or backstroke (where you can do a flip turn, though can't remember if back then the backstroke flip turn was allowed yet), but for breaststroke and butterfly, where you have to grab, tuck your legs tight and push off - nothing more disheartening than pushing with all your legs have, and your feet slip, leaving you dead in the water. It happened to me too.
Our home movie has my brother, who had shaved down and had a good shot at making the team, crying at the finish. An extremely kind line judge, or whatever we called them, comforted him and helped him out of the water.
edit: Ha! Yes, at the end of the article, they mention my brother's (and Olympic) coach, Don Gambril.
Edit II:
My brother's team is mentioned here as NCAA 1968 champions.
Edit III: My brother's classmate and friend,
Jimmy McConica, is a former Pan-Am gold medal winner (1971) and multiple masters world record holder. The dude also
swam our channel, a 20 mile swim, 4X, in record time (also the English channel). I remember well "Jimmy McConica day" in Ventura.
Ha! Memory lane. That's Jimmy at left, me at middle, my brother at right.
Me, getting ready to dive those same Channel Islands.
Actor.
Shakespearean actor, at "The Mount," Edith Wharton's home. This was from an article in the Smithsonian magazine.
Chef/owner, Waterstone, first French restaurant in the Upper Peninsula region.
Founder and Chief Instructor, Hokoryukan Dojo, Marquette, MI. The Japanese man was my master, when I lived as
uchideshi, or full-time, formal, live-in direct zen and martial arts disciple to a master. His name was Fumio Toyoda, Shihan, in death given the Buddhist name Tenzan Gensho Rokoji.
My greatest accomplishment.
Sorry for the OT. Back to these games.
so far I'm not all that interested...
