1973 World Aquatics Championships

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first FINA World Championships in Aquatics were held in the Tašmajdan Sports Centre in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, from August 31 to September 9, 1973. Since then, they've been staged periodically but rather irregularly, at intervals ranging from two to five years. The championships include all four Olympic disciplines governed by the international swimming federation FINA: diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo.

The tournament saw a raft of world records tumble, but nearly all fell to the meet's two dominant countries, East Germany and the United States, who between them claimed 28 of the 37 gold medals on offer. The USA finished with fifteen gold medals, thanks mostly to its strong performance from the men in the swimming and its clean sweep in the synchronised swimming.

Jim Montgomery, the man who became the first to break the 50-second mark in the 100 m freestyle, had few problems taking gold in both the 100 m and 200 m freestyle, with Australian Michael Wenden forced to settle for bronze in the 200 m. Another Australian, Brad Cooper, went under the world mark in the 400 m, but it wasn't enough to take gold from American Rick DeMont. Both men went under the four-minute mark for the first time.

But Cooper's compatriot, Stephen Holland, exacted revenge on Demont in the 1500 m and shattered the world record by almost seven seconds in the process. Holland's effort was Australia's only gold of the meet, while DeMont captured the silver, also under the world mark, with Cooper finishing in third place.

East German backstroker Roland Matthes' glittering career was in its twilight, but it didn't stop him resetting the world record in the 200 m backstroke for the eighth time, shaving almost a second off. It would be his last world record, though he also took gold in the 100 m backstroke, missing his own record by just over a second. John Hencken also broke the world mark on the way to taking gold in the 100 m breaststroke, while Great Britain's David Wilkie did likewise in the 200 m.

The Americans truly asserted their authority in the relays, taking gold in the 4 x 100 m, 4 x 100 m medley and 4 x 200 m. Anchored by Montgomery, the 4 x 200 m team smashed the world record, winning by a massive 10 seconds from the Australians. The West German team took bronze, Wenden touching out Folkert Meeuw by three one-hundredths of a second.

The Americans' dominance in the men's, however, was matched by the East Germans in the women's. Kornelia Ender announced herself as Shane Gould's successor, taking gold in the 100 m butterfly and freestyle and finishing with four gold. Teammate Rosemarie Kother claimed the 200 m butterfly in a world record time.

Andrea Hubner (200 m) and Gudrun Wegner (400 m) made it an East German clean sweep in the medleys, both girls taking more than three seconds off the world mark. Breaststroker Renate Vogel also took out both the 100 m and 200 m events, and claimed her third gold when the 4 x 100 m medley team won in a world record time.

The Americans made a clean sweep of the synchronised swimming, with Japan and Canada forced to settle for consolation medals in all three events. Teresa Anderson won three gold, teaming up with Gail Johnson to take the duet event to add to her solo and team triumphs.

The medals were more evenly spread in the diving with Sweden, Italy, East Germany and the USA all winning gold. Sweden's Ulrika Knape took out her pet event, the 10 m platform, but was again denied in the 3m springboard after taking silver at the Summer Olympics a year earlier, this time by East German Christa Kohler.

American Phil Boggs announced himself with gold in the 3m springboard, an event he would dominate for the next five years, while Italian Klaus Dibiasi took out the 10 m platform.

The Hungarian water polo team, led by arguably its greatest ever player, Tamás Farago, took gold, exacting revenge on the Soviet Union in the final after the USSR beat them in the 1972 Summer Olympics final in Munich, West Germany.

Contents

[edit] Medal Summary

[edit] Swimming

[edit] Men's

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 m Freestyle Flag of the United States Jim Montgomery
United States
Flag of France Michel Rousseau
France
Flag of Australia Michael Wenden
Australia
200 m Freestyle Flag of the United States Jim Montgomery
United States
Flag of the United States Kurt Krumpholz
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Roger Pyttel
East Germany
400 m Freestyle Flag of the United States Rick DeMont
United States
Flag of Australia Brad Cooper
Australia
Flag of Sweden Bengt Gingsjö
Sweden
1500 m Freestyle Flag of Australia Stephen Holland
Australia
Flag of the United States Rick DeMont
United States
Flag of Australia Brad Cooper
Australia
100 m Backstroke Flag of the German Democratic Republic Roland Matthes
East Germany
Flag of the United States Mike Stamm
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Lutz Wanja
East Germany
200 m Backstroke Flag of the German Democratic Republic Roland Matthes
East Germany
Flag of Hungary Zoltán Verrasztó
Hungary
Flag of the United States John Naber
United States
100 m Breaststroke Flag of the United States John Hencken
United States
Flag of the Soviet Union Mikhail Kryukin
Soviet Union
Flag of Japan Nobutaka Taguchi
Japan
200 m Breaststroke Flag of the United Kingdom David Wilkie
Great Britain
Flag of the United States John Hencken
United States
Flag of Japan Nobutaka Taguchi
Japan
100 m Butterfly Flag of Canada Bruce Robertson
Canada
Flag of the United States Joe Bottom
United States
Flag of the United States Robin Backhaus
United States
200 m Butterfly Flag of the United States Robin Backhaus
United States
Flag of the United States Steven Gregg
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Hartmut Flöckner
East Germany
200 m Individual Medley Flag of Sweden Gunnar Larsson
Sweden
Flag of the United States Stan Carper
United States
Flag of the United Kingdom David Wilkie
Great Britain
400 m Individual Medley Flag of Hungary András Hargitay
Hungary
Flag of the United States Rod Strachan
United States
Flag of the United States Rick Colella
United States
4x100 m Freestyle Relay Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of the Soviet Union SOVIET UNION Flag of the German Democratic Republic EAST GERMANY
Mel Nash
Joe Bottom
Jim Montgomery
John Murphy
Igor Grivennikov
Viktor Aboymov
Vladimir Krivtsov
Vladimir Bure
Roland Matthes
Roger Pyttel
Peter Bruch
Hartmut Flöckner
4x200 m Freestyle Relay Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of Australia AUSTRALIA Flag of Germany WEST GERMANY
Kurt Krumpholz
Robin Backhaus
Rick Klatt
Jim Montgomery
John Kulasalu
Stephen Badger
Brad Cooper
Michael Wenden
Klaus Steinbach
Werner Lampe
Peter Nocke
Folkert Meeuw
4x100 m Medley Relay Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of the German Democratic Republic EAST GERMANY Flag of Canada CANADA
Mike Stamm
John Hencken
Joe Bottom
Jim Montgomery
Roland Matthes
Jürgen Glas
Hartmut Flöckner
Roger Pyttel
Ian MacKenzie
Peter Hrdlitschka
Bruce Robertson
Brian Phillips

[edit] Women's

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 m Freestyle Flag of the German Democratic Republic Kornelia Ender
East Germany
Flag of the United States Shirley Babashoff
United States
Flag of the Netherlands Enith Brigitha
Netherlands
200 m Freestyle Flag of the United States Keena Rothhammer
United States
Flag of the United States Shirley Babashoff
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Andrea Eife
East Germany
400 m Freestyle Flag of the United States Heather Greenwood
United States
Flag of the United States Keena Rothhammer
United States
Flag of Italy Novella Calligaris
Italy
800 m Freestyle Flag of Italy Novella Calligaris
Italy
Flag of the United States Jo Harshbarger
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Gudrun Wegner
East Germany
100 m Backstroke Flag of the German Democratic Republic Ulrike Richter
East Germany
Flag of the United States Melissa Belote
United States
Flag of Canada Wendy Cook
Canada
200 m Backstroke Flag of the United States Melissa Belote
United States
Flag of the Netherlands Enith Brigitha
Netherlands
Flag of Hungary Andrea Gyarmati
Hungary
100 m Breaststroke Flag of the German Democratic Republic Renate Vogel
East Germany
Flag of the Soviet Union Lyubov Rusanova
Soviet Union
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Brigitte Schuchardt
East Germany
200 m Breaststroke Flag of the German Democratic Republic Renate Vogel
East Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Hannelore Anke
East Germany
Flag of the United States Lynn Colella
United States
100 m Butterfly Flag of the German Democratic Republic Kornelia Ender
East Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Rosemarie Kother
East Germany
Flag of Japan Mayumi Aoki
Japan
200 m Butterfly Flag of the German Democratic Republic Rosemarie Kother
East Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Roswitha Beier
East Germany
Flag of the United States Lynn Colella
United States
200 m Individual Medley Flag of the German Democratic Republic Andrea Hübner
East Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Kornelia Ender
East Germany
Flag of the United States Kathy Heddy
United States
400 m Individual Medley Flag of the German Democratic Republic Gudrun Wegner
East Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Angela Franke
East Germany
Flag of Italy Novella Calligaris
Italy
4x100 m Freestyle Relay Flag of the German Democratic Republic EAST GERMANY Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of Germany WEST GERMANY
Kornelia Ender
Andrea Eife
Andrea Hübner
Sylvia Eichner
Kim Peyton
Kathy Heddy
Heather Greenwood
Shirley Babashoff
Jutta Weber
Heidemarie Reineck
Gudrun Beckmann
Angela Steinbach
4x100 m Medley Relay Flag of the German Democratic Republic EAST GERMANY Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of Germany WEST GERMANY
Ulrike Richter
Renate Vogel
Rosemarie Kother
Kornelia Ender
Melissa Belote
Marcia Morey
Deena Deardurff
Shirley Babashoff
Angelika Grieser
Petra Nows
Gudrun Beckmann
Jutta Weber

[edit] Synchronized swimming

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Solo Flag of the United States Teresa Andersen
United States
Flag of Canada Jojo Carrier
Canada
Flag of Japan Junko Hasumi
Japan
Duet Flag of the United States Teresa Andersen
& Gail Johnson
United States
Flag of Canada Jojo Carrier &
Madeleine Ramsay
Canada
Flag of Japan Masako Fujiwara
& Yasuko Fujiwara
Japan
Team Competition Flag of the United States UNITED STATES Flag of Canada CANADA Flag of Japan JAPAN
Teresa Anderson
Susan Barros
Robin Curren
Jackie Douglas
Gail Johnson
Dance Moore
Amanda Norrish
Suzanne Randell
Michelle Calkins
Frances Hambrook
Debbie Humphrey
Lorraine Nicholl
Gail Page
Carol Stuart
Susan Thomas
Laura Wilkin
Masako Fujiwara
Yasuko Fujiwara
Junko Hasumi
Yasuko Unesaki
----
----
----
----

[edit] Diving

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's 3 Metres Springboard Flag of the United States Phil Boggs
United States
Flag of Italy Klaus Dibiasi
Italy
Flag of the United States Keith Russell
United States
Women's 3 Metres Springboard Flag of the German Democratic Republic Christa Köhler
East Germany
Flag of Sweden Ulrika Knape
Sweden
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Marina Janicke
East Germany
Men's Platform Diving Flag of Italy Klaus Dibiasi
Italy
Flag of the United States Keith Russell
United States
Flag of the German Democratic Republic Falk Hoffmann
East Germany
Women's Platform Diving Flag of Sweden Ulrika Knape
Sweden
Flag of Czechoslovakia Milena Duchková
Czechoslovakia
Flag of the Soviet Union Irina Kalynina
Soviet Union

[edit] Water Polo

[edit] Men's Competition

For more details on this topic, see 1973 FINA Men's World Water Polo Championship.
EVENT Gold GOLD Silver SILVER Bronze BRONZE
Team Flag of Hungary Hungary Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia

[edit] External links

Preceded by
None
FINA World Aquatics Championships Succeeded by
1975 World Aquatics Championships
(Cali, Colombia)