Daichi SUZUKI
Biografía
At the 1988 Olympics, Japan’s Daichi Suzuki was not favored for 100 backstroke gold, that role going to Soviet Igor Polyansky, who had won both backstroke events at the 1986 World Championships, and American Dave Berkoff, the world record holder who had pioneered a new technique of swimming as far as possible underwater after the turn, often not breaking the surface until the 35-40 metre mark. This usually gave him a big lead at the turn, and was so advantageous that the other swimmers, including Suzuki, adopted the technique.
Berkoff used his technique in Seoul to break the world record in the preliminaries, recording 54.51. In the Seoul final, Berkoff used the technique but only led Suzuki, who had increased his signature underwater dolphin kicks from 21 to 27, by about a body length after the turn, which was less than expected and was not enough, as Suzuki came home faster to win a surprising gold medal. As soon as the Seoul Olympics ended, Berkoff’s underwater start was banned, with the new rule requiring that backstrokers surface and begin stroking on top of the water by 10 metres, although this was later changed to 15 metres.
Destacado
Resultados olímpicos
Athlete Olympic Results Content
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