World Championships Preview: Men’s Sprint Freestyle: Can David Popovici Lower World Record Again? (Predictions)
Photo: David Popovici (right) with Maxime Grousset after the 100 freestyle final at the 2022 World Championships — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Our Class of 2023 Honorees keep coming up in articles about the World Championships. Yesterday it was Bob Bowman and today it is Sprinter Cesar CIelo. Read on…….. Who will it be tomorrow?
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
19 July 2023, 06:35am
World Championships Preview — Men’s Sprint Freestyle: Can David Popovici Lower World Record Again?
For five years, the men’s sprint freestyle events were the domain of Caeleb Dressel. The American swept gold medals in the 50 and 100 free at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships and again at the 2021 Olympics, although world records narrowly eluded his grasp. His last two 100-meter wins were by tiny margins over Kyle Chalmers, the 2016 Olympic champion who developed a reputation as the best finisher in the world in these races.
But now, the best finishing speed, the world title and the world record all belong to David Popovici, who broke Cesar Cielo’s suit-aided world record in the 100 free last year after the 46.91 was untouched for 13 years. Popovici returns to the world level as the heavy favorite to defend his title. While Dressel will be absent from Fukuoka, the 18-year-old Popovici will get a push from 25-year-old Chalmers, still looking for the first individual long course world title of his impressive career.
Meanwhile, a host of new contenders have emerged in the splash-and-dash, with reigning world champion Ben Proud leading the way and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Florent Manaudou, now 32, still a threat.
Women’s Mid-Distance Freestyle
Men’s 50 FreestyleWR20.91Cesar Cielo FihloBRASao Paolo (BRA)Dec. 18, 2009CR21.04Caeleb DresselUSAGwangju (KOR)July 27, 2019WJR21.75Michael AndrewUSAIndianapolis (USA)Aug. 25, 2017=WJR21.75Michael AndrewUSAIndianapolis (USA)Aug. 26, 2017Men’s 100 FreestyleWR46.86David PopoviciROURome (ITA)Aug. 13, 2022CR46.91Cesar CieloBRARome (ITA)July 30, 2009WJR46.86David PopoviciROURome (ITA)Aug. 13, 2022
Contenders:
Jack Alexy (USA): Fresh off an impressive sophomore season at Cal, which included a second-place finish in the 100-yard free at the NCAA Championships, Alexy posted a huge performance at U.S. Nationals. He came out on top of an extremely tight 100 free final and placed second in the 50 free. He currently ranks fourth in the world in the 50 free (21.63) and seventh in the 100 free (47.75). Contending in: 50 free & 100 free
Lewis Burras (GBR): The British champion in both sprint events, Burras was seventh in the 50 and 100 free at last year’s Worlds, setting a national record of 47.63 in the semifinals. He also won 50 free silver at the Commonwealth Games. Contending in: 50 free & 100 free
Gui Caribe (BRA): This 20-year-old had a strong freshman year at Tennessee and is looking to translate his success into long course. His best times in the 50-meter pool are 21.87 (50 free) and 47.82 (100 free), making him a possible spoiler at Worlds. Contending in: 50 free & 100 free
Kyle Chalmers (AUS): Chalmers has been winning international medals in the 100 free since his teenage years, and he has sparkled over the last two years. After knocking off a 13-year-old short course world record in the fall of 2021, Chalmers won Commonwealth gold and a short course world title in 2022. His top time this year of 47.44 is less than four tenths off his best (47.08) and second globally. He will surely be ready to shine in the final in Fukuoka. Contending in: 100 free
Jordan Crooks (CAY): A huge wildcard here. Swimming for the University of Tennessee, Crooks was the NCAA champion in the 50-yard free as he became the second-fastest man ever behind Dressel. He was also the short course world champion in the 50 free last December. But Crooks has yet to show off that speed in long course. Contending in: 50 free
Maxime Grousset (FRA): This 24-year-old was the Worlds silver medalist in the 100 free last year and bronze medalist in the 50 free after winning a swim-off to secure his spot in the final of the splash-and-dash. Grousset currently ranks fourth in the world in the 100 free at 47.82, and he swam as fast as 21.78 in the 50 free in June. Contending in: 50 free & 100 free
Ryan Held (USA): A member of the gold-medal-winning 400 free relay team for the United States back in 2016, Held will race individually at a major international long course meet for the first time after winning the 50 free at U.S. Nationals in 21.50, the second-quickest time in the world this year. Held ranks fifth globally in the 100 free (47.63) but did not qualify to race the event in Fukuoka. Contending in: 50 free
Hwang Sunwoo (KOR): He’s better in the 200 free, where he won silver at last year’s Worlds, but the 20-year-old Korean was fourth in the 100 free in Rio and has a season-best time of 47.78. Contending in: 100 free
Josh Liendo (CAN): The 100 free bronze medalist at Worlds last year and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in the 50 free. Liendo has a better world-title chance in butterfly, but he has quickly become one of the best sprint freestylers in the world as well. His season-best times are 21.80 and 47.86, but he shined collegiately for the University of Florida, becoming the second-fastest man ever in the 100-yard free (40.28). Contending in: 50 free & 100 free
Florent Manaudou (FRA): Eleven years after his stunning Olympic gold in London, Manaudou remains a force in the one-lap race following a pair of Olympic silvers and a swift 21.56 earlier this year, good for third in the world. Contending in: 50 free
Cameron McEvoy (AUS): When McEvoy last raced internationally, he placed 24th in the 100 free at the Tokyo Olympics and 29th in the 50 free. After a year away, the 29-year-old from Queensland has reinvented himself as a 50-meter specialist. He scorched a 21.27 at Australian Trials to become the fastest man in the world by more than two tenths and move into a tie for 11th all-time. Contending in: 50 free
Alessandro Miressi (ITA): Miressi has been the top Italian in the 100 free for several years, placing fifth in Tokyo and eighth last year in Budapest, a meet where he anchored the Italian men’s 400 medley relay to upset gold over the Americans. Contending in: 100 free
Pan Zhanle (CHN): After missing a medal in the World Championships final last year by eight hundredths, Pan broke out earlier this year with a 47.22 swim at Chinese Nationals, becoming the 11th-fastest man ever in the event and a real medal contender for Fukuoka. Contending in: 100 free
David Popovici (ROU): The world-record holder and big favorite for gold in the 100 free. Popovici surely will not be first at the halfway point, but he cannot be stopped on the home stretch. On the way to his 46.86 last year, Popovici closed in 24.12. Not even Chalmers can approach that speed on the second lap. Contending in: 100 free
Ben Proud (GBR): The 50 free defending champion as well as Commonwealth Games and European Championships winner last year. Proud’s best time is 21.11, fourth-best ever and well ahead of anyone else in the heat. The 50 free is a tight field where any mistake can determine a winner or an entire podium, but Proud’s experience makes him the slight favorite. Contending in: 50 free
Matt Richards (GBR): In a breakout performance at the British Championships earlier this year, Richards swam a 100 free time of 47.72, ranked sixth in the world entering Fukuoka. Contending in: 100 free
Flynn Southam (AUS): The only teenager among the threats in either sprint event, Southam finished only three tenths behind Chalmers at Australian Trials, closing in on the veteran at the end while swimming a time of 47.77, eighth-best in the world. Contending in: 100 free
Szebasztian Szabo (HUN): Szabo placed fourth in the 50 free at last year’s Worlds, his time of 21.60 only three hundredths away from the podium. Contending in: 50 free
Predictions:
Men’s 50 Freestyle
Gold: Ben Proud (GBR)Silver: Cameron McEvoy (AUS)Bronze: Florent Manaudou (FRA)
The 50 free is a crapshoot, as always, but Proud has done a nice job coming through in major races. Other than this trio, Held has the best chance of making a podium run.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Gold: David Popovici (ROU)Silver: Kyle Chalmers (AUS)Bronze: Pan Zhanle (CHN)
Look for Liendo and Grousset to be really close to returning to the podium. Popovici finishes just off the world record but does go sub-47 again, finishing two tenths ahead of Chalmers.
Happy Birthday Diana Mocanu!!
Diana Mocanu (ROM)
Honor Swimmer (2015)
FOR THE RECORD: 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m backstroke; 200m backstroke); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m backstroke), silver (100m backstroke); 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (100m butterfly); 2000 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke), bronze (4x100m medley relay).
Olympic gold medals are cherished in any country, but in 2000, Romania was especially desperate to be seen as something other than a poor unstable Balkan nation. That is when an unknown 16 year old girl emerged, who would become known as “Golden Diana”.
Diana Mocanu was from the small Eastern Romanian town of Braila. She was virtually unknown in her own small town, much less Romania, when she headed off to Sydney to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games. All totaled, Diana would compete in five events at the Olympic Games, but her specialty, the backstroke would bring her gold. On the third day of Olympic competition, Diana won her first gold medal and became Romania’s first Olympic gold medalist in the sport of swimming. Her gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke set a new Olympic record. Her second gold medal came on the seventh day of competition, in the Women’s 200 meter backstroke, where she swam 2:08.16. Diana also qualified for the finals in the Women’s 100 meter butterfly, where she finished eighth. With her Romanian teammates, she also competed in the 4 x 100 medley relay and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Unfortunately, they did not make the finals in either event.
Diana competed in the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan where she won gold in the 200 meter backstroke and silver in the 100 meter backstroke.
She competed in two European Championships, the 1999 Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, where she placed third in the Women’s 100 meter butterfly, fourth in the Women’s 50 meter backstroke, fifth in the Women’s 4 x 100 medley relay, and sixth in the Women’s 200 meter backstroke. Her next trip to the European Championships in 2002, in Berlin, she placed fifth in the Women’s 200 meter backstroke and eighth in the Women’s 50 meter backstroke.
Diana decided to retire in 2004 after not making the Olympic team. She was quoted as saying “My decision is final. I totally lost my determination as an athlete. My future is now in coaching.” Diana’s career as a swimmer may not have lasted a long time but what she did for her country’s morale by winning double Olympic gold, in a time when it was so desperately needed, will last a lifetime.
OLYMPIC NEWS / PARIS 2024: IOC Declines to Extend Invitations to Paris Olympics to Russia, Belarus
by MATTHEW DE GEORGE – SENIOR WRITER
14 July 2023, 09:54am
IOC Declines to Extend Invitations to Paris Olympics to Russia, Belarus
The International Olympic Committee Thursday said it will not send formal invitations to the 2024 Olympics in Paris to Russia and Belarus.
The IOC traditionally sends formal invites to its more than 200 participating nations one year before the Games, both Summer and Winter, are scheduled to open. The move is largely ceremonial and does not prevent the governing body from having a change of heart over the next 365 days. But the decision indicates that Russia and Belarus may not follow the typical protocols that apply for the 203 other participating nations who receive invitations on July 26.
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“Despite offering a workable pathway forward with the IOC’s values-based recommendations, we are still confronted with two irreconcilable positions,” the IOC said in a statement. “The Russian side wants the IOC to ignore the war. The Ukrainian side wants the IOC to totally isolate anyone with a Russian and Belarusian passport. Both positions are diametrically opposed to the IOC’s mission and the Olympic Charter.
“The IOC navigates such an intractable situation through its values, which are its compass. This is why the IOC’s athlete-centred recommendations address its core values of peace, unity, solidarity and non-discrimination.”
Should Russian Athletes Be Allowed at the Paris Olympics?
Russia and Belarus have been largely excluded from the international sporting scene since the former launched an invasion of Ukraine in the early 2022, with significant material support from the latter. (The Belarussian national Olympic committee is headed by Viktor Lukashenko, son of authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, making any separation of political influence very difficult.)
The IOC recommended the exclusion in Feb. 2022 just after the initial invasion. While some sporting bodies have allowed those athletes to compete (though not in aquatics), particularly in individual sports, the IOC has not shown any signs of doing so. But it has also pushed back on its usual hobby horse of political interference, scolding even again Thursday Ukraine’s position of wanting a total ban against athletes from the belligerent nations. The IOC in March published recommendation for re-integration of athletes from those countries, but they were for other federations and event organizers. It remains to be seen if the IOC will follow those pathways.
“The IOC will take this decision at the appropriate time, at its full discretion, and without being bound by the results of previous Olympic qualification competitions,” it said in a statement.
The IOC is also declining to invite Guatemala, whose national Olympic committee has been indefinitely suspended over allegations of government interference.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS / FUKUOKA: ISHOF 2023 Honor Coach Bob Bowman and Carol Capitani Eager to Lead Team USA at World Championships
by John Lohn, Swimming World Editor
Bob Bowman and Carol Capitani Eager to Lead Team USA at World Championships
When the United States arrives in Fukuoka, Japan for the World Championships, July 18-25, Bob Bowman and Carol Capitani will be charged with guiding the Red, White and Blue to the top of the medals table. As the Team USA head coaches, they’ll oversee the American training camp, finalize relay selections and provide advice to the U.S. athletes.
Bowman, the head man at Arizona State University, is no stranger to this responsibility, as he has previously served as the United States’ head coach at the Olympic Games and World Champs and has been an assistant coach on numerous occasions. The head women’s coach at the University of Texas, Capitani, meanwhile, will guide Team USA at the World Champs for the first time, although she was an assistant last year, and was the U.S. women’s head coach at the 2017 World University Games.
Here are some thoughts from Bowman and Capitani on their head-coaching roles:
BOB BOWMAN
On serving as head coach:
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“It’s a tremendous honor and a huge responsibility. You want to see the country do well. I want to provide the best leadership I can and do things right. It’s a chance to give back to the young kids because I was fortunate to have been given opportunities (through the years).”
On what he has learned through the years:
“I’ve had the chance to learn from some great coaches: (Dennis) Pursley, (Mark) Schubert, (Frank) Busch, (Eddie) Reese and (Jack) Bauerle. They are the best at bringing teams to their best. You learn so much about coaching and working together. You see so much you think about bringing (home). We might stick with what got us there, but you pick up a lot of little things. It’s a great experience.”
CAROL CAPITANI
On serving as head coach:
“It’s always an honor to represent Team USA at any international competition, so I’m happy to be of service and lead this women’s team the best I can. There have been some amazing performances this summer, and I can’t wait to see the competition in Indy (June 27-July 1) to make the team. I learned a lot in Budapest last year in the company of Todd (DeSorbo), Anthony (Nesty) and all the talented coaches on staff, and look forward to working together with this team. It’s going to be fun and fast.”
On her goals for the team in Fukuoka:
“The goal for any USA team in international competition is to win the medal count. The team crushed it last summer, and I don’t see our vision or expectations changing. We’d really like to put up some great relays on the road to Paris, and I think we have the pieces to do that.”
Happy Birthday Karin Kuipers!!
Karin Kuipers (NED)
Honor Water Polo (2014)
FOR THE RECORD: 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1991 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1995 FINA World Cup: silver, 1997 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze; 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS: silver; 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 WORLD CUP: gold; 1996 OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT; 1993, 1998,1999 VOTED BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD
She was appointed Knight of the Order of Orang-Nassau in 2011, a chivalric order open to everyone who has earned special merits for society because of her great services to Dutch Water Polo. It is a grade comparable with the ranks of the Order of the British Empire in the UK.
Wearing her famous number 7, she started playing in the first division at the age of 14. She was three times voted the best player in the world; in 1993, 1998 ,1999, and played in over 1000 official games, scoring over 3000 goals during her career.
Her greatest years came before women’s water polo was added to the Olympic program, when her Dutch team was the best in the world and won either the gold or silver medal at every FINA world cup and FINA world championships from 1991 to 1999. Her team entered the 2000 Olympic Games as one of the favorites, but finished a disappointing fourth.
Now a mother of two, she competes in triathlons and competes with her old water polo friends in Dutch masters competitions.
Happy Birthday Cornel Marculescu!!
Cornel Marculescu (ROM)
Honor Contributor (2010)
FOR THE RECORD: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FINA: 1986 – Pres-ent; TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF ROMANIAN SWIMMING FEDER-ATION: 1970-1980; HONORARY SECRETARY FINA TECHNICAL WATER POLO COMMITTEE: 1978-1980; TECHNICAL DIREC-TOR OF ROYAL SPANISH SWIMMING FEDERATION: 1980- 1986; MEMBER ROMANIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: 2000-Present; IN-TERNATIONAL WATER POLO REFEREE: 1970-1980; MEMBER OF ROMANIAN NATIONAL WATER POLO TEAM PLAYING IN 165 INTERNATIONAL GAMES (1958 to 1970) PLACING FIFTH AT 1964 OLYMPIC GAMES
In 1986, FINA President Bob Helmick handpicked Cornel to take the helm of a permanent FINA Officein Lausanne. The workload had grown to a point where a professional office staff was needed and Cornel had the capacity to do the work of ten people. He has served as Executive Director with a sense of duty and dedication that has made him one of the busiest people in world sport. The results have been impressive.
He knows what it means to be an athlete, a coach, a referee and a manager – having experienced all of those worlds in water polo. He is a graduate of Bucharest’s Institute of Sport and Physical Education in Romania. He was a member of the Romanian National Water Polo Team, playing in 165 international games finishing5th at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He has taken part in every Olympic Games since Tokyo. He served as a water polo referee for ten years officiating the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal Game Final that ended in a 3-3 tie between Hungary and the Soviet Union.
Cornelio Miguel Marculescu Bulfon He speaks fluent English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Romanian. He served as Technical Director of the Romanian Swimming Federation and Honorary Secretary of the FINA Water Polo Committee. In 1980, he was chosen Technical Director of the Spanish Swimming Federation where he hosted the 1986 Madrid World Championships. He has served on FINA’s Development and Marketing Committees. Since 2007, he has been the Coordinator of the Water Polo World League and is FINA’s regular representative at sports forums throughout the world. Cornelio Miguel Marculescu Bulfon (ROM)2010 Honor Contributor.
Happy Birthday Brad Cooper!!
Brad Cooper (AUS)
Honor Swimmer (1994)
FOR THE RECORD: 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (400m freestyle); TWO WORLD RECORDS: 400m, 800m freestyle; 1973 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (400m freestyle), bronze (1500m freestyle); 1974 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: gold (200m backstroke), silver (400m freestyle), bronze (100m backstroke).
The men’s 400 freestyle was swimming’s four minute barrier until it was broken in 1973. This classic of middle distance events had become an obsession for many of the great coaches and swimmers. Johnny Weissmuller first bettered five minutes in the 1920s. The ’50s brought Australian Murray Rose with two Olympic victories in the 400 in 1956 and 1960. He bettered the time to 4:13.4, but by 1967, just seven years later, 25 swimmers in the world had swam faster than 4:08.1 and a half dozen were within fractions of a second off the magic four minute barrier.
In the early ’70s, Brad Cooper of Australia was one of the most likely candidates. He broke the 400 free world record in 1972, but didn’t break the barrier. In one of the greatest freestyle races at the Munich Games, Brad Cooper, leading most of the final 200 meters, was out touched by Rick DeMont by one hundredth of a second. Due to Rick’s asthma medication, he was stripped of the gold medal, and it was awarded to Brad Cooper. Actually, Cooper’s time was an Olympic record on its own, and it was a bittersweet victory for Brad.
One year later in a rematch at the 1973 World Championships, Cooper, trailing DeMont, made a final burst of speed in the last 30 meters. DeMont wanted to win and got it, but they both broke the four minute barrier. Cooper took silver with a time of 3:58.70. He also won a bronze in the 1500 free.
Cooper’s versatility in the distance events was again proven one year later at the Commonwealth Games in 1974. Cooper, proving he still had it in him, won the gold in the 200 back, a silver in the 400 free and a bronze in the 100 back. From 200 to 1500 distances, Brad Cooper was a force to be reckoned with in all international events during the early 1970s.
During his career, Brad assembled two world records in the 400 and 800 free before retiring in 1974, shortly after his Commonwealth Games victories.
Happy Birthday Michelle Ford!!!
MICHELLE FORD (AUS) 1994 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: 1980 Olympic Games: gold (800m Freestyle), bronze (200m Butterfly); Two World Records (800m Freestyle); 1978 Commonwealth Games: gold (200m Butterfly), silver 400m and 800m Freestyle), bronze (200m Freestyle and 4x100m Free Relay); 1982 Commonwealth Games: gold (200m Butterfly), silver (800m Freestyle); Four Australian National Championships (200m Butterfly).
Crazy about the water since age four, she was touted as the coming superstar of Australian swimming, and at age 13 she broke nine records, six state and three national, all in three days. Two of those records were by Shane Gould and Jenny Turrall. That same year she earned a spot on the 1976 Olympic team, the second youngest Australian ever to do so. Just one year later, she set her first world record in the 800 freestyle. Little did she know her times in the 800 free would someday beat the times swum earlier by the immortal Murray Rose and John Konrads.
This blonde haired, blue eyed beauty continued her winning streak at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, taking a gold in the 200 butterfly, two silvers in the 400 and 800 free and two bronzes in the 200 free and 400 freestyle relay.
But Michelle Ford’s greatest memory is winning the gold medal in the 800 freestyle and bronze in the 200 butterfly in the Moscow 1980 Olympics. “Competing in the Olympics helped define everything I am today,” she said. Ford was named Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1980. Her name is cast in gold as the Australian women’s team has not won a gold in the Olympics since 1980.
Ford’s Olympic gold did not stop her. She went out hard and fast in the 1982 Commonwealth Games (her second) to take the gold in the 200 fly and silver in the 800 free. During the course of her career, she won four Australian National Championships.
Michelle Ford was a swimmer who made many coaches look great including Hall of Famer Don Talbot, Bill Sweetenham in Australia and Don Lamont at the University of Southern California. Michelle was elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes Commission 12 person board and was a member of the Olympic Academy from 1984 to 1988. She retired from active competition in 1985 and two years later was invited to work with the Olympic Museum in Switzerland. In 1988 she edited the FINA learn to swim manual.
Ford has used her master’s degree in sports psychology to manage the growth and budgeting of 15 sports as the head of the University Association of Switzerland. Impacting three countries (Australia, Switzerland and the USA) her fluid and elegant style in and out of the water are her trademark.
Spectacular New ISHOF Video – from the old to the new !
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vz1xfxvp9ut521/07102023_ISHOF_Rd3_REV2.mp4?dl=0
All of us at ISHOF are so excited about the new video that was just released and give to us. Please take a few minutes to watch it and share it with your friends. The new ISHOF is going to be spectacular!
Happy Birthday Tan Liangde!!
Tan Liangde (CHN)
Honor Diver (2000)
FOR THE RECORD: 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (3m springboard); 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (3m springboard); 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (3m springboard); 1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (3m springboard); 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (3m springboard).
In 1982, at age sixteen, he joined the Chinese National team as a springboarddiver in Beijing and under the coaching of Xu Yiming, the National Team coach, he reviewed films of Greg Louganis, taken by Xu on his trips abroad. Little did this young Chinese diver and champion-to-be, Tan Liangde, know that when he hoarded these tapes of Louganis, he would soon be competing against this greatest diver in the world.
Tan first competed against Louganis at the FINA World Cup in 1983 and was beaten. Tan took the silver medal in the 3m springboard at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics the following year; Louganis won the gold. For the next four years, Louganis won 19 straight international springboard competitions; Tan always received the silver. But at two international invitations just before the 1988 Olympics, Tan beat Greg, the only two times he would beat the superstar. At the Seoul Olympics, Greg returned to defeat Liangde.
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the gold medal again evaded Tan when Mark Lenzi (USA) won the springboard event. Just like when Hall of Fame diver Georgio Cagnotto (ITA) had the Olympic gold medal evade him throughout five Olympic Game competitions in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980, so did Tan Liangde meet the same fate.
But his longevity in the sport was overwhelming. He earned the silver medal in all of his major international competitions, as a result of competing against the great Louganis, a diver who was unbeatable during most of his career. In 1989, the very shy but confident Tan won the FINA World Cup and the Alamo Invitational. He was elected the 1989 Male Springboard Diver of the Year.
Throughout his ten years of international springboard diving competition, Tan was a consistently great diver who other divers tried to outscore but only a very, very few succeeded.