Swimming at the 1979 Pan American Games

The Swimming Tournament at the 1979 Pan American Games took place in the Piscina Olimpica del Escambron in San Juan, Puerto Rico from July 2 to July 8, 1979.[1][2]

Three world records were broken at this edition of the Games, all by U.S. swimmers.

Men’s events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	David McCagg (USA)	50.77	Fernando Cañales (PUR)	51.25	John Newton (USA)	51.45
200 m freestyle	Rowdy Gaines (USA)	1:51.22	David Larson (USA)	1:52.24	Djan Madruga (BRA)	1:52.34
400 m freestyle	Brian Goodell (USA)	3:53.01	Djan Madruga (BRA)	3:57.46	Peter Szmidt (CAN)	3:58.34
1500 m freestyle	Brian Goodell (USA)	15:24.36	Djan Madruga (BRA)	15:41.74	Bobby Hackett (USA)	15:46.83
100 m backstroke	Bob Jackson (USA)	56.66	Rômulo Arantes (BRA)	57.20	Steve Pickell (CAN)	57.89
200 m backstroke	Peter Rocca (USA)	2:00.98	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	2:02.07	Djan Madruga (BRA)	2:04.74
100 m breaststroke	Steve Lundquist (USA)	1:03.82	Greg Winchell (USA)	1:04.76	Graham Smith (CAN)	1:05.66
200 m breaststroke	Steve Lundquist (USA)	2:21.97	John Simmons (USA)	2:22.45	Pablo Restrepo (COL)	2:23.13
100 m butterfly	Robert Placak (USA)	55.54	Dan Thompson (CAN)	55.56	Clay Evans (CAN)	56.63
200 m butterfly	Craig Beardsley (USA)	2:00.49	George Nagy (CAN)	2:02.15	Bill Sawchuk (CAN)	2:02.93
200 m individual medley	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	2:03.29 WR	Graham Smith (CAN)	2:05.86	Scott Spann (USA)	2:06.29
400 m individual medley	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	4:21.63	Bill Sawchuk (CAN)	4:30.21	Alex Baumann (CAN)	4:32.42
4×100 m freestyle relay	UNITED STATES Rowdy Gaines Jack Babashoff John Newton David McCagg	3:23.71	CANADA Graham Welbourn Alan Swanston Bill Sawchuk Peter Szmidt	3:29.64	BRAZIL Cyro Marques Djan Madruga Marcus Mattioli Rômulo Arantes	3:30.86
4×200 m freestyle relay	UNITED STATES Brian Goodell David Larson Kris Kirchner Rowdy Gaines	7:31.28	BRAZIL Cyro Marques Djan Madruga Jorge Fernandes Marcus Mattioli	7:38.92	CANADA Peter Szmidt Graham Welbourn Rob Bayliss Bill Sawchuk	7:39.27
4×100 m medley relay	UNITED STATES Bob Jackson Steve Lundquist Bob Placak David McCagg	3:47.20	CANADA Steve Pickell Graham Smith Dan Thompson Bill Sawchuk	3:50.02	PUERTO RICO Carlos Berrocal Orlando Catinchi Arnaldo Pérez Fernando Cañales	3:54.63

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	56.22	Jill Sterkel (USA)	56.24	Gail Amundrud (CAN)	57.79
200 m freestyle	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	1:58.43 WR	Kim Linehan (USA)	2:01.92	Gail Amundrud (CAN)	2:03.38
400 m freestyle	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	4:10.56	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	4:16.13	Wendy Quirk (CAN)	4:17.34
800 m freestyle	Kim Linehan (USA)	8:39.82	Jennifer Hooker (USA)	8:50.71	Barbara Shockey (CAN)	8:54.82
100 m backstroke	Linda Jezek (USA)	1:03.33	Cheryl Gibson (CAN)	1:05.17	Teresa Rivera (MEX)	1:06.87
200 m backstroke	Linda Jezek (USA)	2:16.07	Cheryl Gibson (CAN)	2:17.58	Libby Kinkead (USA)	2:20.19
100 m breaststroke	Tami Paumier (USA)	1:12.20	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	1:12.52	Anne Gagnon (CAN)	1:14.38
200 m breaststroke	Anne Gagnon (CAN)	2:35.75	Joanne Bédard (CAN)	2:40.22	Patricia Speeds (USA)	2:40.79
100 m butterfly	Jill Sterkel (USA)	1:00.53	Lisa Buese (USA)	1:00.59	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	1:02.96
200 m butterfly	Mary T. Meagher (USA)	2:09.77 WR	Karinne Miller (USA)	2:15.05	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	2:16.40
200 m individual medley	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	2:16.11	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	2:19.36	Anne Tweedy (USA)	2:20.33
400 m individual medley	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	4:46.05	Anne Tweedy (USA)	4:47.19	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	4:53.37
4×100 m freestyle relay	UNITED STATES Stephanie Elkins Tracy Caulkins Jill Sterkel Cynthia Woodhead	3:45.82	CANADA Gail Amundrud Carol Klimpel Anne Jardin Wendy Quirk	3:50.18	MEXICO Teresa Rivera Isabel Reuss Yvonne Guerrero Helen Plachinski	4:02.05
4×100 m medley relay	UNITED STATES Linda Jezek Tracy Caulkins Jill Sterkel Cynthia Woodhead	4:13.24	CANADA Cheryl Gibson Anne Gagnon Nancy Garapick Gail Amundrud	4:20.16	MEXICO Teresa Rivera Elke Holtz Helen Plachinski Inez Guerrero	4:30.59

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	28	12	6	46
2	Canada	1	12	15	28
3	Brazil	0	4	3	7
4	Puerto Rico	0	1	1	2
5	Mexico	0	0	3	3
6	Colombia	0	0	1	1
Totals (6 nations)		29	29	29	87

References

• Hickoksports
• Results
• Folha Online
• USA Swimming

1. ISHOF list with all medalists in Pan Am Games history Archived 2014-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
2. Odir Cunha (2007). Heróis da América - História Completa dos Jogos Pan-Americanos. Editora Planeta. ISBN 8576652803.