Swimming has always been the sport of the prodigy, from the Japanese teenagers who won in the 1932 Olympics to Australia's 17-year-old John Konrads, holder of world records from 220 to 1,650 yds. Last week it was clear that the U.S. could claim its own prodigy, who, among swimming's sprinters, may be the most prodigious ever. Steve Clark, a 16-year-old Los Altos, Calif. high school junior with a skintight crewcut and an adolescent's gangling frame of 5 ft. 11 in., 147 Ibs., flashed through the 100-meter free style in 55.7 sec. to better by .1 sec. the fastest time...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
