2009 Best Performers
100 METRES FREESTYLE
| # | Country | Time | Name | IPS | Meet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | FRA | 44.94 | Leveaux, Amaury | 1031 | EURSCDEC |
| 2 | | FRA | 45.69 | Bernard, Alain | 1007 | FRASCDEC |
| 3 | | FRA | 45.81 | Gilot, Fabien | 1004 | EURSCDEC |
| 4 |  | SWE | 46.03 | Nystrand, Stefan | 997 | STOCKNOV |
| 5 |  | CAN | 46.27 | Hayden, Brent | 989 | CANSCMAR |
Roy Saari, the first man to race inside 17 minutes over 1,500m freestyle and winner of an Olympic relay gold in 1964, has died. He was 63. Saari collapsed and died last Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Mammoth Lakes home, according to reports in the US media.
Leading the tributes, Peter Daland, Saari's coach at USC, called him "the greatest swimmer of his time." Saari was only the second swimmer to win nine NCAA individual championships, making his mark between 1964 and 1966. His four world records included the first sub-17-min 1,500m, his 16:58.7 set at the 1964 US Olympic trials. At the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Saari claimed gold in the 4x200m free relay and silver in the 400m medley. In his "best" event, the 1,500m, Saari, suffering from a heavy cold, finished seventh.
4x200m free
Saari raced to gold in second slot alongside Stephen Clark, Gary Ilman and Don Schollander, who mad history by becoming the first man to win four gold medals in the pool at one Games - and that without a 200m free in the Olympic programme at a time when Schollander held the world record. The USA quartet set a world record of 7:52.1, 7.2sec ahead of Germany, with Japan a further 4.5sec adrift.
400m medley
The medley came as a surprise to some. At US Olympic trials in July 1964, Dick Roth became the first man to race inside 4:50, on 4:48.6. Three days before the inaugural 400m medley final in Tokyo, Roth suffered an acute attack of appendicitis. Doctors urged surgery but the swimmer refused. Ice was the temporary cure.
In the heats, Carl Robie, also USA, who six days later would take silver in the 200m butterfly, set the first Olympic record in 4:52.0. In the final, Robie took the race out hard in 1:01.0 on butterfly ahead of the 1:02.2 of Saari, who had been tipped for five gold medals until illness cut short his chances. Roth and the German whose world record he had taken, Gerhard Hetz, turned together in 1:04.1. Saari took command of the race on backstroke, turning in 2:13.5, with Robie and Roth both on 2:16.4 and Hetz 4sec off the pace. On breaststroke, Saari’s advantage, as he turned in 3:40.3, was cut to a second as Roth put in a split of 1:24.9. Hetz and Robie were now engaged in the battle for bronze on 3:45s.
Roth caught Saari soon after the last turn and went on to set a world record of 4:45.4. Saari also raced inside the previous world record, on 3:47.1, with Hetz taking the bronze 0.4sec up on Robie.
1,500m free
In the 1,500m, Australian Murray Rose, absent champion, had lost the world record in September to Saari (USA). But by the time the final came round in Tokyo, Saari was out of sorts. The battle until 800m was between Australians Windle and Allan Wood, and Americans John Nelson, William Farley and Saari. By 900m, the Australians had edged ahead and by 1,000m-mark, Windle had made a significant his move, opening up a 1.3sec advantage over Wood to lead in 11:16.3, 3.1sec inside Saari’s world-record pace, with Nelson fighting to keep up, on 11:23.8. Windle held the lead of the race firmly but on the clock, the record was slipping away: at 1,200m, he was still 0.9sec inside Saari’s pace, at 13:36.2, with Wood very much in contention just 1.2sec behind him and Nelson at 13:41.9. Over the last three 100m splits of Saari’s race the world record came off a sequence of 1:08.1; 1:08.5 and 1:05.2. Windle clocked 1:09.8; 1:09.4 and 1:06.3. The world record was out of reach, but in 17:01.7, he raced inside the Olympic record and claimed the title 1.3sec ahead of the fast-finishing Nelson, who roared past Wood with a 1:04.6 final 100m split. Saari finished a distant seventh in 17:59.2.
Roy Allen Saari was born on February 26, 1945, in Buffalo, N.Y., the middle of three children of Urho and Wanda Saari. He trained at the El Segundo High School swim team, where his father coached from 1941 into the 1970s. The El Segundo indoor public pool carries the name Urho Saari Swim Stadium.
Saari, who in the race pool drew attention by using a strong scissors kick combined with a glide, was also an accomplished water polo player and qualified as a member of the US team for the 1964 Games. In those days, US rules did not allow him to compete as both swimmer and polo player - and he opted to swim.
The Saari name was well known in water polo: his father, Urho, coached the Olympic team and his younger brother, Robert, was an Olympic team player.
Roy Saari graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1967 and earned a law degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1973. He practiced law for several years in Orange County. In 1978, he moved with his wife and two children from Huntington Harbor to Mammoth Lakes and turned to real estate development and construction. For 16 years, he was the planning commissioner for the town of Mammoth Lakes. In addition to his daughter, Joani, Saari is survived by his wife of 41 years, Sheryl; his son, Jeff; his siblings, Carol and Robert; and four grandchildren. Services will be held at 11am on January 11 at the Mountainside Conference Center in the Main Lodge, 1 Minaret Road, Mammoth Lakes.
