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This baying, to be sure, did not noticeably discourage the guest athletes. The Canadians, who had not won a gold medal in Olympic swim competition since 1912, collected four golds, three silvers and three bronzes. Their heroes, two-time gold Medleyist Alex Baumann and Breaststroker Victor Davis, who have maple leaves tattooed on their chests, and Breaststroker Anne Ottenbrite, who does not, cheerfully threw Frisbees into the crowd on their way to get their medals. The Dutch women may have deserved an award for the most medals from the smallest country: a total of six, including Petra Van Staveren's gold in the 100-meter breaststroke. The Australians took a host of silvers and bronzes and seemed ready for better things. Finally, an unknown 17-year-old Aussie named Jon Sieben came out of deepest anonymity in Lane 6 to win the 200-meter butterfly over a singular West German named Michael Gross, beating Gross's world record by one-hundredth of a second.
Gross, never mind upstart antipodeans, was the dominant swimmer of the meet. He is a very tall, haunted-looking fellow whose nickname is the Albatross, and he soared above everyone else on air currents only he was able to find. He is 6 ft. 7½ in. tall and so thin he looks frail. His arm span, which on average should equal roughly his height, is an astonishing 7 ft. 4 in. He is the only male swimmer since Mark Spitz to hold world records in two strokes at the same time, and the combination of his success and his unusual architecture has swimming experts muttering in awe. His close-set eyes and long, beaked nose give him an expression of alert irritability. He is said to be arrogant, but before his first race a private kindness showed a different side of his nature.
The story began at the U.S. swim trials a month before, where John Moffet, accustomed to trailing home behind Veteran Steve Lundquist in the 100-meter breaststroke, not only beat the blond, gorgeously muscled Lunk, as Lundquist is called, but set a world record of 1:02.13. At the prelims on the first morning of Olympic competition, Moffet qualified fastest, in Olympic-record time. But four strokes into the second 50, he felt a muscle let go in his right thigh. Hours later, after a shot of Xylocaine, he swam the final in pain and managed a fifth place on arm power and guts. Lundquist finished in new world-record time and then comforted Moffet. That was to be expected; Lundquist, who has had his own ups and downs since 1980, is an openhearted fellow and a teammate. But after Moffet left the pool on crutches, the foreigner who took the trouble to come over and offer sympathy was Michael Gross, not even a close acquaintance. "It was a class act," said Moffet, whose own act had been just that.
Gross went on to win medals—two gold and two silver. One of the silvers, for the 4-by-200-meter relay, missed being gold by the diameter of the medallion. Earlier that day Gross had qualified for the 100-meter butterfly, then won the final with a world record of 53:08. The U.S. 4-by-200-meter relay team, knowing Gross awaited them at the anchor leg, went at their business quickly. Six other teams were in the water, but not really in the race.