PHOENIX, Arizona, December 20. THIS past weekend, 17 year-old Katie Hoff swam the 400 yard IM at the North Baltimore Christmas Invitational in a time of 4:02.58. The time was only 3 tenths of a second away from Summer Sanders' American Record. More importantly, Hoff took down the last record on the books set by Tracy Caulkins – the all-time greatest female swimmer in United States history.
On paper and in the water, Hoff is demonstrating all the talent, stroke for stroke that Caulkins exhibited back in the late 70's and early 80's.
Caulkins, now married with four children to Australian Olympian Mark Stockwell and living in Brisbane, Australia, won 48 U.S. national individual championships – more than any other swimmer, male or female to date. On her way to that number, she surpassed Johnny Weismuller (Tarzan) for most titles when she captured number 37.
She is the only swimmer to have set American records in all five disciplines (free, back, breast, fly, and IM) – not even Michael Phelps can say that.
She set world records in three different events and was the first woman to break both IM world records at the Olympic Games.
Listen in as Swimming World Radio, hosted by Brent Rutemiller, talks with Hoff and Caulkins about the past, present and future. Listen as they talk about training, coaches, the specter of drugs in sports, Beijing morning finals and even their most challenging training sets.
Just click on the Swimming World Radio button to the right or download the MP3 version to listen to on your iPods or MP3 players.
Comments about this story can be sent to Brent Rutemiller.