Rowdy seems like he has the kind of reaction that a normal swimmer would have if he won the gold medal. This is what every gold medal celebration should look like.
Rowdy felt like he was at his peak during the 1980 olympics, when the US boycotted. he had to keep training thru 1984 for the chance to compete at the olympics, so this win was super cathartic and a long time coming for him. what a legend!
This man has actually come down to give us a clinic on freestyle. It was incredible to listen to his stories and how he was able to go D1 in swimming after only 2 years of swimming.
Honestly they should just let people wear whatever they want just as long as there aren't any banned materials in it. Whether it's bike shorts, full-body suit, leg skins, etc. Briefs and one-pieces for females will always remain popular for training, but I'd be surprised if you ever see them in high-level races again.
I remember watching it live. The starter did this time & time again, so I'm not surprised that most of the swimmers knew he'd be fast and hurried into their ready position. All but 2 of the people were set in this video. Swimming starters don't take as long as track & field starters. They usually start them a millisecond after the last person hits their position. But this was obviously too fast, and it's a shame.
Ah yes, the Panamanian starter who fired before everyone except Gaines was settled. Good on Gaines' coach for doing his homework, but an Olympic final deserved better officiating.
At first I thought some of these videos were out of sync, but now I see what you mean. That starter had the whistle blown on races when people hadn't even gotten down.
With the slick suits the record went under 45, but 2019s WCs were won on a 46.96, with better swimware, better blocks, more efficient transitions (dolphin kick) and 40 years of sports science. i'd say these blokes were pretty awesome to be honest and given todays advantages would be in the mix.
I knew we had something going on here. A Friend of mine at Rocky's Loved watching the Olympic Games for Wrestling for one sport. the Olympic Games should have A Stop of workage during this time.
I see "swedes" were very much a thing back then. I swore by them when I swam back in the early 90's :). Never even came close to the Olympic. My sister made it up to World Championships for the USVI and even had a spot in the 2008 Beijing olympics but turned it down and hung up her swim suit :/.
3:33 Rowdy reacted to the gun very fast and boom he’s off. That’s probably like .20 or something on the reaction time 4:35 Mark Stockwell of Australia is very mad you can see while Rowdy is celebrating and his teammate Mike Heath congratulated him Rowdy started the generation in the mens 100 free. Now guys like Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Neil Walker, Michael Phelps, Ryan Locthe, Ryan Held, Blake Peroni, Zach Apple, and now Caleb Dressel have all followed his footsteps. Just amazing to discover
Stockwell was angry because that idiot starter was fast-starting every race. He would say "take your mark" and squeeze the trigger before all the swimmers came down to a set position. Watch other races from these games and you will see the same thing. However, Stockwell should have known what to expect. The eight swimmers discussed the starter's itchy trigger finger as they walked down the side of the pool toward the blocks.
That's a great observation! I've been fascinated by this race forever, and never known this. I think Rowdy was using all his wits to win. Even thinking hard about which goggles to use - slightly comically! Seeing his start now I know he's the only one in a track start position, you noticed he is positioned lower as they jump. All the other swimmers in that race flex both their knees more than there were on "set" then jump. Randy's knees were already flexed to take off position, so he was off the blocks earlier and had more speed entering the water. I'm sure the coaches have figured it out that a track start gives you a faster start so all competitive swimmers do it. Ironic that Rowdy's start was described as "unconventional" by those 1984 commentators.
@@johnnguyen270 even to this day watching the video Stockwell didn't have time to be ready at the start. If the starter gave Mark the same time to be ready I think he and not Gaines would have won Gold
@@KG1970. Only if the difference in speed between two athletes is small. But none of those athletes would have been able to swim in 49.80 apart from Gaines that day, even without the mildly controversial start.
Olympics commitee should put the rules and regulations back to this, no "technical suit", just a pair of googles and a real Speedo bikini...:) The true Champion like Rowdy Gaines, Matt Biondi and Alexander Popov don't even need a swimming cap to swim faster..!
Mark Spitz didn't wear goggles and swimming cap when he won 7 gold in Munich Olympic, so he's not a true champion? I think some new rules improve world records to make the sport more exciting to watch.
Times have changed, and they've found ways that make people even faster, which is a good thing. It's nice to have some change, including going back a step from the full body technical suits to the knee to shoulder for women and the waist to knee for men.
Fun fact: Everyone back then knew that the B final would be faster than this A final. What they didn't know was that it would even deliver a new olympic and world record.
Gaines won only because the US organizers changed the time schedule in a way that Michael Gross could not compete. Gross would have crushed them back then.
Gross was never a 100m Freestyle swimmer, just contributed in the relays for the West German team. Not to mention that even in Butterfly his strong event was the 200m, not the 100m (no matter what happened in those Olympics).
Rowdy swam when he was younger on Cypress Gardens AAU swim team. That team disbanded and he came back his junior year in High School. In his prime dominating years in 1980 got boycotted for the Moscow Olympics where he would have won five gold medals and he quit. All that hard work and big dream came crashing down. Not just for Rowdy but the whole US Olympic team, all of those dreams of so many. He came back and finally won Gold in Los Angeles. I swam with him when we were 8 and under year olds through high school. Not a better person and bigger heart than Rowdy and was always so passionate for the sport swimming.
I remember that recently a NCAA swimmer was disqualified because he crossed to another line after winning.... and here RG did the same... just to think about it...
Well lets be honest, I destroyed his records as a 18yr old. And I didn't take Steroids... Just good old fashioned Beef & Lamb... and one hell of a lot of road work... yes Swimmers must Run.. elevation changes everything
Rowdy seems like he has the kind of reaction that a normal swimmer would have if he won the gold medal. This is what every gold medal celebration should look like.
Rowdy has that reaction to every race he watches.
Rowdy felt like he was at his peak during the 1980 olympics, when the US boycotted. he had to keep training thru 1984 for the chance to compete at the olympics, so this win was super cathartic and a long time coming for him. what a legend!
This man has actually come down to give us a clinic on freestyle. It was incredible to listen to his stories and how he was able to go D1 in swimming after only 2 years of swimming.
Now, of course, Rowdy is making a good living as a color analyst for NBC and ESPN.
I giggled a little when I heard that Gaines had an unconventional start. How times have changed.
And now we having him rant over how amazing Dressel's starts are lmao
pretty funny, but also i can see why they do two foot forward starts, the blocks are so tiny!
I have 25 meters for the rest of my life and ill never have to worry about it again :)
Back in the day when they all wore real speedos!!!
+Jack Smith 777 and they knew how to fill them
metsedudenj Seems to be the only aspect of this swim that your concerned with
Honestly they should just let people wear whatever they want just as long as there aren't any banned materials in it. Whether it's bike shorts, full-body suit, leg skins, etc. Briefs and one-pieces for females will always remain popular for training, but I'd be surprised if you ever see them in high-level races again.
And know we have swimmers that can do these times in drag suits.
@@aquamansanchez8784 16 year old went 47.3 at Euro Jrs
I remember watching it live. The starter did this time & time again, so I'm not surprised that most of the swimmers knew he'd be fast and hurried into their ready position. All but 2 of the people were set in this video. Swimming starters don't take as long as track & field starters. They usually start them a millisecond after the last person hits their position. But this was obviously too fast, and it's a shame.
What a legend. Love this guy.
Watching this during Tokyo Olympics swimming events.
Ah yes, the Panamanian starter who fired before everyone except Gaines was settled. Good on Gaines' coach for doing his homework, but an Olympic final deserved better officiating.
At first I thought some of these videos were out of sync, but now I see what you mean. That starter had the whistle blown on races when people hadn't even gotten down.
As they were going to the blocks, the 8 swimmers discussed the starter and his quick starts.
Heath clearly wasn't settled either
A www man, I would have love to have seen that feature on Rowdy Gaines...
Rowdy Gaines is da thing!
He did a good job breathing to his right.
With the slick suits the record went under 45, but 2019s WCs were won on a 46.96, with better swimware, better blocks, more efficient transitions (dolphin kick) and 40 years of sports science.
i'd say these blokes were pretty awesome to be honest and given todays advantages would be in the mix.
The record for 100m has NEVER been under 45 😂 the fastest is 46.91 with the super suit.
@@psychedelicgoat3464now it’s 46.86 but the WR in SCM is 44.84 by Kyle chalmers
@@parkerfleischman1852 You can't count short course.
ROWDY GAINES?!!!
I was at the parade in Winter Haven to welcome him back after his wins.
I knew we had something going on here. A Friend of mine at Rocky's Loved watching the Olympic Games for Wrestling for one sport. the Olympic Games should have A Stop of workage during this time.
Dirk Korthals? That's straight up Dutch! I found out he literally lives in a village that borders the Netherlands.
I see "swedes" were very much a thing back then. I swore by them when I swam back in the early 90's :). Never even came close to the Olympic. My sister made it up to World Championships for the USVI and even had a spot in the 2008 Beijing olympics but turned it down and hung up her swim suit :/.
around 4:45 it seems you can hear Stockwell saying something like "worst start"
Rowdy old school not wearing a cap.
3:33 Rowdy reacted to the gun very fast and boom he’s off. That’s probably like .20 or something on the reaction time
4:35 Mark Stockwell of Australia is very mad you can see while Rowdy is celebrating and his teammate Mike Heath congratulated him
Rowdy started the generation in the mens 100 free. Now guys like Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Neil Walker, Michael Phelps, Ryan Locthe, Ryan Held, Blake Peroni, Zach Apple, and now Caleb Dressel have all followed his footsteps. Just amazing to discover
Stockwell was angry because that idiot starter was fast-starting every race. He would say "take your mark" and squeeze the trigger before all the swimmers came down to a set position. Watch other races from these games and you will see the same thing. However, Stockwell should have known what to expect. The eight swimmers discussed the starter's itchy trigger finger as they walked down the side of the pool toward the blocks.
Wow in lane 3 rowdy Gaines used track start first time seeing a track start in that year
That's a great observation!
I've been fascinated by this race forever, and never known this.
I think Rowdy was using all his wits to win. Even thinking hard about which goggles to use - slightly comically!
Seeing his start now I know he's the only one in a track start position, you noticed he is positioned lower as they jump. All the other swimmers in that race flex both their knees more than there were on "set" then jump. Randy's knees were already flexed to take off position, so he was off the blocks earlier and had more speed entering the water.
I'm sure the coaches have figured it out that a track start gives you a faster start so all competitive swimmers do it. Ironic that Rowdy's start was described as "unconventional" by those 1984 commentators.
Mark Stockwell is still hurting to this day about this race. He claims that he wasn't set by the time the starter fired the gun.
***** He did as well as the Australian Olympic Federation appealed about the flying start that happened. Unfortunately the appeals were denied.
@@johnnguyen270 even to this day watching the video Stockwell didn't have time to be ready at the start. If the starter gave Mark the same time to be ready I think he and not Gaines would have won Gold
@@KG1970. Nah, Gaines was faster and didn't get much of an extra advantage at the start.
@@vaderetro264 in sprint events like the 100 freestyle even that small advantage means the difference between winning and losing.
@@KG1970. Only if the difference in speed between two athletes is small. But none of those athletes would have been able to swim in 49.80 apart from Gaines that day, even without the mildly controversial start.
Olympics commitee should put the rules and regulations back to this, no "technical suit", just a pair of googles and a real Speedo bikini...:) The true Champion like Rowdy Gaines, Matt Biondi and Alexander Popov don't even need a swimming cap to swim faster..!
Mark Spitz didn't wear goggles and swimming cap when he won 7 gold in Munich Olympic, so he's not a true champion? I think some new rules improve world records to make the sport more exciting to watch.
Times have changed, and they've found ways that make people even faster, which is a good thing. It's nice to have some change, including going back a step from the full body technical suits to the knee to shoulder for women and the waist to knee for men.
Dear Rowdy: Excellent, brilliant performance by you. For all time. And you don’t look like a Soviet Union weightlifter. How did you win RG baby.
Can’t believe Olympic swimming used to be outside in the sun 😂
It’s been outside in 1992 and 2004 also. I’m not sure we will see it again.
The 2028 Games will have swimming outdoors again.
An Auburn grad, I named my dog Rowdy. :)
the Gods are shining on all of us.
Great video
Fun fact: Everyone back then knew that the B final would be faster than this A final. What they didn't know was that it would even deliver a new olympic and world record.
every single time in the a final was faster than the fastest time in the b final. no clue what you mean
That was the 400 freestyle, not the 100.
See swim Lovers of Fond du Lac - you too can become an Olympic Champion or Pride Games Champion
?
the drought is gone
First time I see an athlete kiss the interviewer after and interview. lol.
Nowadays it will be classed as sexual assault!
U have very nice vídeos, congratuñations
Gaines won only because the US organizers changed the time schedule in a way that Michael Gross could not compete.
Gross would have crushed them back then.
Gross was never a 100m Freestyle swimmer, just contributed in the relays for the West German team. Not to mention that even in Butterfly his strong event was the 200m, not the 100m (no matter what happened in those Olympics).
Crazy that this using even as fast as the 100m butterfly world record
not really crazy. no dolphin kick. no tech suit. blocks the size of a cereal box. the sport has changed so much since this swim.
Why aren't the swimmers today wearing speedos anymore?
The the current suits have muscle compression and support that helps you ride higher in the watee
Isn't that Rowdy Gaines? Did he got any hair?
Why was this recommended for me
Why did you watch it?
Hahaha Godfrey goggles again .
You see clear all modern swimmers are so juiced up you clearly see how a not juiced Body looks like
No doping , no power skin
That we know of..
That’s what I thought too. Rowdy Gaines looks normal and is normal. Perfect victory.
That commentator sounds like Jim Lampley
That’s because that is exactly who it is.
Wow they look so skinny compared to today s swimmers
Fun fact:Rowdy Gaines has only did swimming for 2-3 years only and yet look at him now.
Rowdy swam when he was younger on Cypress Gardens AAU swim team. That team disbanded and he came back his junior year in High School. In his prime dominating years in 1980 got boycotted for the Moscow Olympics where he would have won five gold medals and he quit. All that hard work and big dream came crashing down. Not just for Rowdy but the whole US Olympic team, all of those dreams of so many. He came back and finally won Gold in Los Angeles. I swam with him when we were 8 and under year olds through high school. Not a better person and bigger heart than Rowdy and was always so passionate for the sport swimming.
I remember that recently a NCAA swimmer was disqualified because he crossed to another line after winning.... and here RG did the same... just to think about it...
Was that race called ‘The Rowdy Gaines Race’ or the 100 Freestyle. That American commentator is just about the worst I’ve heard.
Rowdy Gaines won The God Medal, Mark Spitz. It was The Rowdy Gaines Race.
Rowdy was in front the whole way so it was his race.
False start in 80? No didn't hear)))
Well lets be honest, I destroyed his records as a 18yr old. And I didn't take Steroids...
Just good old fashioned Beef & Lamb... and one hell of a lot of road work... yes Swimmers must Run.. elevation changes everything
Times are like 15seconds slower then now
BoBa Me More like 2.
I was exaggerating