Sport: American Wafer Bugs

Their shoulders were just beginning to smooth over with muscle, and their legs were still developing full power. Many had never competed in a national swimming meet. But before they were done with the A.A.U. championships held in Yale's Gothic Payne Whitney Gymnasium last week, the youthful American water bugs had served notice on the world—including the feared Australians and Japanese—that the U.S. was improving fast for the Rome Olympics next August. The A.A.U. meet was, in fact, the greatest in U.S. history: with 14 swimming events on the program, seven American records...