Did You Know?
USA-USSR Dual Meets
Fun Facts of Aquatics From ISHOF
By ISHOF’s Historian & Curator Bruce Wigo
The United States and the Soviet Union used to host a dual meet between the two nations that started in September 1971.
This set of meets was done to give the national team a chance to see the Olympic facilities in Munich, Germany the year before the 1972 Olympics.
The 1981 matchup turned out to be the closest score in the dual meet series between the two countries, with the United States winning 203-141. However, the Americans were without a few of their superstars in Tracy Caulkins, Jesse Vassallo and Matt Gribble. Despite the absence of those big names, Team USA won the men’s competition by 18 points, and the women’s by 44.
The Americans had boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games the year before in Moscow, so it was expected to be a tightly contested meet in Kiev. The Soviets showed up in better shape than in 1978, winning nine of the 29 events. But the Americans were still too strong, highlighted by a world record from American Craig Beardsley in the 200 meter fly.
Even with the boycott fresh in everyone’s mind, the 1981 meet was about the friendship between the two nations.
“Friendship first, competition second,” Soviet head coach Sergei Vaitsekovski told Swimming World in its October 1981 issue. “This meet is a stepping stone, a preparatory exercise for us. It gives us a good opportunity to compete against the finest swimmers in the world from the United States, and gets us ready for the meet that is most important to us, the European Championships.”
To read more about the USA-USSR dual meets,
check out the June 2019 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!
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016 WOMEN’S SWIMMING
019 MEN’S SWIMMING
024 OPEN WATER SWIMMING
025 DIVING
025 WATER POLO
027 ARTISTIC SWIMMING
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044 HOW THEY TRAIN ASHLEY STROUSE
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046 UP & COMERS: KAYLA HAN
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008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT
009 BEYOND THE YARDS
033 DID YOU KNOW? USA-USSR DUAL MEETS
047 GUTTER TALK
048 PARTING SHOT
We had USSR – GDR (German Democratic Republic) matches annually. And it was more important then European Championship on that time.