ajthomas wrote:
That was also discussed with my son. I didn’t put it in the post because it was already too long. The championship meet is with touch pads now, but you are right they didn’t have them in 1978. The next season, as a 9 year old, he set the 9-10 record. So he had some swimming chops. (He told me this when we talked, there is no archive.)
Definitely sounds like a fast kid, but depending upon how old the summer league or team was at the time, many of the records could have been initially 'soft' and easier to break for a solid fast kid. Lots of youth summer swim leagues got their start in the 1970s. I swam from age 5 through college, and my kids swim, and I even coached a summer league for a couple years during college, so I've seen some interesting times in my day. All that being said, a somewhat flubbed time, for a fast kid, for a short distance- such as a 25, can make the record 'untouchable'.
So what is the time that the boy did in 25 breast? And is it yards or meters? Many kids didn't even use goggles in the 1970s, too!