The dead heat in swimming

Courtesy of Corey He

I’ve always thought it was a little counterintuitive to call ties in a race a “dead heat” – races that end in a tie or are close are the most exciting and certainly not “dead.” In colloquial terms, events that are considered “dead” are often boring, dull, or even outdated.

But maybe I’m just reading too much into the words.

Anyway, today we take a look at the dead heats that took place on swimming’s biggest stage. If ties aren’t exciting enough for you, check it out here Article with Olympic races where the decision was made within a hundredth of a second.

Women’s 100 m freestyle, Rio 2016

The last race on this list actually makes me remember sitting in front of the TV as a young age group swimmer watching the race unfold.

This was one of the fastest Olympic finals in the women’s 100-meter freestyle ever. It featured the reigning Olympic champion, Ranomi Kromowidjojo the Netherlands. There were the Campbell sisters — Bronte Campbell and world record holder Cate Campbell from Australia. They had Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden, undoubtedly one of the most decorated swimmers of all time.

The Campbell sisters got off to a fast start and took first and second place in the 50-meter race – Cate was faster than the world record holder. However, they lost momentum 15 meters from the finish and suddenly the race was wide open.

The finishing touches were too close to predict, but when the dust settled, Penny Oleksiak from Canada and Simone Manuel from the USA took first place with a new Olympic record time of 52.70 – Oleksiak’s performance was also a junior world record. Sjöström completed the podium with 52.99, with the Campbell sisters taking 4th and 6th place.

50 m freestyle, men, Sydney 2000

Five hundredths of a second decided the medal winners in this race, making it the closest race (among the podium finishers) on this list.

Americans swam in the middle of the pool Gary Hall Jr., And Anthony Ervin — teammates at Phoenix Swim Club. Hall had been battling Type 1 diabetes for the past year in particular; after a brief break from swimming, Hall returned to competition and set an American record in the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Qualifiers.

Right next to the Americans was Pieter van den Hoogenband from the Netherlands, who had already won Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 m freestyle. With the victory in the 200 m freestyle, van den Hoogenband not only set a new world record, but also defeated the home favorite, the Australian Ian Thorpe.

It was clear from the start that it would come down to the last meter. With just five meters left, the gold medal could have actually gone to five or six different swimmers. On the wall, however, it was Ervin and Hall who shared the win with a time of 21.98, followed by van den Hoogenband with a time of 22.03. Ervin was notably the first swimmer of African-American descent to stand at the top of the Olympic podium.

After Sydney, Hall defended his Olympic title in the 50m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ervin, on the other hand, retired from the sport in 2003 before making a comeback, ending his career with an Olympic gold medal in the same event at Rio 2016.

Interestingly, Hall’s lead in Athens 2004 was the same as Ervin’s lead in Rio 2016: one hundredth of a second. How crazy is that?

Women’s 100 m freestyle, Los Angeles 1984

Due to the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympics, this race was completely wide open. In fact, 14 of the fastest times in history in the 100-meter freestyle were swum by East German women at the time – and due to the boycott, none of these athletes took part in this race.

In the preliminary rounds, three favorites emerged: Carrie Steinseifer And Nancy Hogshead of the United States, together with Annemarie Verstappen the Netherlands. Steinseifer was just 16 years old at the time and had just finished her second year of high school. Hogshead had taken a break from swimming for personal reasons, but had already won a medal at the 1978 World Championships in Berlin. Verstappen was the reigning world champion in the 200-meter freestyle, setting the stage for a close battle.

Although the race was marred by an early false start, it was not a disappointment. Verstappen took an early lead but was spinning just a tenth of a second off the world record pace at the halfway point. Hogshead slowly caught Verstappen in the second 50 miles, but Verstappen fought back. Right next to Hogshead was Steinseifer, who was also catching up and also closing in on Hogshead.

For a split second, with just five meters left to swim, all three swimmers were neck and neck. However, Verstappen eased off in the final meters while the two Americans battled for victory all the way to the wall.

When the results were displayed on the scoreboard, the commentators initially thought that Steinseifer had won with a time of 55.92, as there was a “1” next to her name. Hogshead had a “2” next to her name, but her time was also listed as 55.92 – meaning there was a tie.

Most of the swimmers remained in the water, waiting impatiently for a decision. After a nervous wait, the official results were announced, saying that Steinseifer and Hogshead had shared Olympic gold, much to the shock and delight of the two Americans. Verstappen won the bronze medal in 56.08 seconds.

Hogshead and Steinseifer won two more gold medals as a team at the same Olympics as members of the U.S. 4×100 freestyle and medley relay teams. In fact, Hogshead left Los Angeles as the most decorated swimmer of the Games (three golds, one silver). Verstappen won another bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle and a silver medal as part of the Dutch team in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, finishing just behind the Americans in the relay event.

Men’s 400 m individual medley, Munich 1972

Now we come to the more controversial races – and while there wasn’t technically a dead heat in this one, I have to include it here on the list purely because of its bizarre nature.

As the historic showdown between Phelps and Cavic demonstrated, sometimes how hard you press the touchpad matters more than exactly when you press the touchpad. In fact, swimming pools are not designed for one-thousandth of a second accuracy—it’s simply outside the tolerance of the touchpad design.

The world record holder took part in this race Gary Hall Sr.along with Tim McKee the USA and Gunnar Larsson from Sweden. Hall had a brilliant start and finished several body lengths ahead of the field in the 200 m race. As Hall later said, however, he had started too fast – McKee quickly overtook Hall in the breaststroke and was well ahead of the field in the freestyle.

Larsson, who was known as a great closer and was one of the world’s best 400m freestyle swimmers at the time, was quickly catching up. In the final 50 meters, McKee lifted his head out of the water to find Larsson swimming a few laps away. This would in all likelihood trigger what happened next.

The scoreboard initially showed a tie: Larsson and McKee each had a “1” next to them and their combined time was 4:31.98. However, McKee’s brief euphoria turned into bitter disappointment: upon closer inspection, it turned out that Larsson’s time was 4:31.981 and McKee’s time was 4:31.983.

Two thousandths of a second.

The outcome of this race sparked great controversy, but led to a rule change: it was agreed that no more swimming races could be decided by a difference of less than a hundredth of a second.

Unfortunately for McKee, that decision was never overturned, relegating him to the silver medal in what should have been a dead heat. At the 1976 Montreal Games, he repeated his title in another close Olympic final in the 400 medley, winning the silver medal.

Men’s 100 m freestyle, Rome 1960

I close with perhaps the most controversial race result on this list: a close finish between Lance Larson the USA and Johannes Devitt from Australia.

At that time, race results were decided by three judges with no repeats and three official timekeepers per swimmer. Devitt’s three timekeepers all scored him 55.2 seconds. Larson’s three timekeepers scored 55.0, 55.1 and 55.1 seconds.

However, the three judges disagreed with the timekeepers. They felt that Larson and Devitt had taken first place. The situation was then referred to the head judge. Henry Runströmer from Sweden, who made a controversial decision in favour of Devitt, overruling the official timekeepers – despite the fact that the chairman of the jury was not allowed to decide in the event of a tie according to the rules.

In the end, both Devitt and Larson were listed with a finish time of 55.2 seconds, but Devitt was declared the sole winner and Olympic champion. The US team appealed the decision, citing video evidence that appeared to clearly show that Larson touched the wall first; however, FINA denied the appeal.

The ensuing controversy is often credited with paving the way for the electronic touchpads we see in swimming today. Although Larson would never compete in the Olympics again, he did win an Olympic gold medal in Rome, this time as part of the 4×100 medley relay.

Final thoughts

Given all these ties, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the dead heat. Especially given their rarity, dead heats are a truly special part of the sport—when else can two swimmers share a gold medal on swimming’s biggest stage (aside from relays)?

Frankly, I don’t even want to know who hit the ground first and by how many thousandths of a second – even if someone made touch pads that could detect such small deviations. Instead, as a fan of the sport, I would much rather see two swimmers pushing each other to the end of a race – and see the surprise and excitement on their faces, knowing that they have both achieved a dream they have pursued since childhood.

ABOUT COREY HE

Corey is currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying biology and health management as he pursues medical school. Originally from New Jersey, he first jumped into the water at age 4 and competed in swimming competitions throughout high school. Before college, he swam for the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA. He hopes to pursue a career in sports medicine.