The Prodigy

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 any American ever swam the distance.

Son of a Westinghouse sales manager and an A student, Clark began swimming seriously at the age of four, by nine was training with Coach George Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club. "This little guy always had a big heart," says Haines. "In some ways his light weight is an advantage. He has broad shoulders for power, but very thin legs, and he rides high in the water. This means less drag." In his daily training sessions Clark works out with another Haines pupil: Santa Clara's Chris Von Saltza, the U.S.'s finest all-round girl swimmer. A blonde and matured mermaid at 16, Chris can swim longer and harder than Steve, loves to challenge him in a round of four 400s, or eight 200s. "It's embarrassing," Clark admits, "especially at the long distances, when she makes it too close."

Despite his record swim last week, Steve Clark still frets about making the U.S. Olympic team: "There are five guys under 56 seconds who are bigger and stronger and maybe faster than me, and only two of us can be chosen." Most coaches agree that Clark is just beginning to break records. Says Clark himself: "I've got to gain 20 Ibs., and when I do in a couple of years I'll be at my peak." But even before he reaches that peak, he may already have become the best sprinter anywhere.

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