The Berkoff Blastoff 34

An athlete changing a sport is a rare thing while there are many swimmers/ races that have reset the high-bar - to name only a few, Mary T Meagher's 200m butterfly WR in 1981 took 20 years to break; Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps of course.  Tracy Caulkins was the greatest multiple-stroke competitor of a generation and the marvellous Katie Ledecky still reigns supreme in the distance events.

But here I focus on Dave Berkoff, Harvard '89 (my graduation year and friends with sister Katie, also on the Harvard swim team). Physically unremarkable at 5'10" and 155lbs, his revolutionary backstroke start and turn dove underwater for 35-40m in a 50m pool using a wavelike dolphin kick and streamlined locked arms.  It was a novel thing and, Berkoff realised, faster than surface swimming.  

Using this technique Dave won NCAAs, US nationals and four Olympic medals and set backstroke WRs across his career.  Berkoff's races elicited loud uninterrupted cheers until he popped up to take a breath and stroke or two before the wall then back underwater. 

Today most every elite swimmer has strong "underwaters" regardless of the stroke.  Fittingly, Dave's daughter Katherine qualified for the Paris Olympics in the 100m backstroke.

Photo of Dave Berkoff from the collection of Carl-Johansson/ Olympedia (1987)