Sport: Game Try

If anyone seemed a sure bet to represent the U.S. in swimming at the Olympics in Rome, a sad-faced Kansan named Jeff Farrell, 23, was the man. The greatest U.S. sprinter by consent and by competition, Farrell last month won the National A.A.U. championship by thrashing through the 100-meter freestyle in 54.8 sec., fastest time ever for an American. He looked a cinch to take the 100 meters, and to win a place on the 800-meter relay squad as well, at last week's Olympic trials in Detroit. But six days before the trials, Farrell underwent an emergency appendectomy and sent U.S. swimming plans into an emergency too.

At first, swimming officials looked for a way to put Farrell on the team anyway — a violation of their own rules that only the first two qualifiers in the trials can make the squad. Admitted Chairman Ray Daughters: "We wanted him badly." Farrell surprised the committee by insisting that he would make the team by swimming or not at all. "I don't deserve any special privileges. I'll swim."

Bandage All Around. Day after his operation, with a doctor and Yale's Coach Emeritus Bob Kiphuth looking on, Farrell had two light sessions of kicking and stroking in the pool of Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. Within three days, he was practicing starts and turns. On the sixth day, Farrell showed up at the trials with his five-inch incision protected by a wide roll of tape that extended halfway around his back. "It doesn't hurt much except for hitting the water," said Farrell. Corrected Kiphuth: "It hurts like hell."

In his first 100-meter trial, Farrell took a deep dive to spare himself the hard bellywhop of a flat racing start, stroked powerfully to finish in 55.9, second fastest time of the round. In the semifinals, Farrell got a bad start, but sprinted wildly to hit the wall with the fastest time of the day, 55.6.

Defeat & Victory. By the finals, the swimming meet belonged to Farrell. Spectators and rival swimmers alike cheered him every time he appeared at poolside. A teen-age girl pressed a religious medal into his hand. With a good start, a racing dive this time, Farrell was up with the leaders at the turn. But as he sprinted home, he struck a lane marker with his arm and for a moment floundered off-rhythm. He closed fast, and the finishing order was in doubt — to everyone but himself. Even before the announcement, he buried his face in a towel and moaned: "Why didn't I have it? Why didn't I have it?" First was California's Lance Larson in 55 sec.; second was Harvard's Bruce Hunter in 56 sec. Farrell was third, .1 sec. behind.

Two nights later, grim and pale, Farrell was back to fight for a place on the 800-meter relay team. All he had to do was finish sixth or better in the eight-man field, but no one knew how his stomach would take the long grind. "The more I swim, the more it hurts," he admitted. Coming off the final turn, Farrell poured on his famed finishing sprint, hurt stomach or no, and touched out in fourth place. "I'm very grateful," Farrell said later. "This is the way I wanted to make the team."

Others who earned a trip to Rome: