Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 23

(2 4 3rd ED. ED. THE HARTFORD COURANT: Thursday, August 2, 1984 D5 A Relationship Good as Gold a si7ir.ir.iiNG NOTECOOEC I It was disappointing because I wanted the (relay) very much. A team gold would mean more to me than an individual. Michael Gross v.

I I i -V I 1 By TOMMY HINE Courant Staff Writer LOS ANGELES A Hollywood script writer would have loved it. Even real men cried. There was Danny Andrews, confined to a wheelchair and paralyzed from the waist down, cheering his older sister home. Theresa Andrews, U.S. gold medalist in the women's 100-meter backstroke, talked of her younger brother long after the stands had emptied Tuesday night at the Olympic swimming pool.

They had been close before Danny was run down by a motorist while riding his bike exactly a year ago Friday. She says they're even closer now. "I got to see Danny an hour before my race when I came to warm up in the afternoon," she said. "He didn't come for the preliminary races in the morning. He wanted to save his strength for the finals at night." Danny Andrews, 20, used all the strength he had to cheer his sister home.

A ramp for the handicapped -allowed him access to the Summer Games swim site, and a friend who was an usher wheeled him to a spot halfway down the pool. He went absolutely wild when Theresa got the starting gun and, with both fists pumping the air, waved so hard his Olympic cap was knocked from his head. Theresa Andrews was in fourth place at the 50-meter split, and Danny screamed even louder after the turn. She caught and passed the three swimmers in front of her only 10 meters from the final wall. "Somebody told me he was going crazy the last 10 meters," Theresa said.

"Seeing him in the afternoon and just chatting a bit helped me relax. Seven of my 11 brothers and sisters were here with me tonight, and I got the feeling that I was just swimming in another meet having my family and Danny around." On her walk to the medal ceremony and again on the way back, Theresa caught Danny's eye, and they both raised a fist high in the air. "I'm going to give my gold medal to Danny," she said later. "I won this for him." tThe Albatross' Spurns Spotlight Games, Gross will be an even bigger star." Gross has not even thought about that. "I do not believe I will get anything (commercial) from this," he said Tuesday.

"And I don't care." He does not need the money. He is the only child of a wealthy family. He drives a Porsche to practice. His critics say he is spoiled and perhaps he is to an extent. But he is also a remarkable athlete, arguably the finest swimmer in the world.

He is almost certain to win three gold medals at these Games he is favored in the 200 butterfly and he might have won six if he had anyone on his relay teams who could go in the water without a life preserver. Gross possesses a perspective rare in someone so young. When someone asked why he shunned publicity, Gross said it was because he saw it for what it was, an illusion rather than an end. "I know tomorrow someone will come along and break my records," Gross said, "and the same (reporters) will run to him. If it can go that fast, how much can it matter?" do it.

"It was disappointing because I wanted the (relay) very much. A team gold would mean more to me than an individual," he said. Swimming, he claims, is merely a hobby. His primary interest is his schooling. He took up the sport when he was 9 (ancient by U.S.

standards) and quit twice before he was 13. He said he was bored. His training is a puzzle to American coaches. Gross swims only once a day and his workout seldom exceeds 9,000 meters. That's just a warm-up at Mission Viejo.

He cares little for his celebrity status, evidenced by his disdain for the press. In 1982, Gross did not attend a Berlin banquet where he was honored as Athlete of the Year. Instead, he went to Aachen to swim in a club meet. Gross was widely criticized by the establishment but he was admired by Germany's young people. "They like his independence," said Jupp Suttner, a magazine writer from Munich.

"Until now, Rummenigge Karl-Heinz (soccer) was the most popular athlete in Germany. After these Olympic By RAY DIDINGER JCnight-Ridder Newspapers ANGELES At the head table, crouched behind the microphones, the interpreter and the mystique, waited Michael Gross. -7 After two days, two world records and three Olympic med-; als, the 20-year-old West German had agreed to meet the press. This is not to say he had invited the world into his life, however. Gross answered questions for 20 minutes Tuesday but said little.

He comparisons to Mark Spitz man ahead of his time," Gross said) and downplayed his chances of winning five gold med- He was distant and wary, which is' to say he ran pretty true to form. Gross does not like a lot of attention. He did not come to the interview tent after setting a world record in the 200-meter freestyle Sunday, anil the German Swimming Federation has taken a lot of heat for not delivering Gross to the media. This was their first Olympic swimming gold medalist since Ursula Happe Controversy continued to rage Wednesday over the start of the men's 100-meter freestyle final Tuesday night. The Australians protested the quick start but their appeal was denied.

"It was the starter's fault, 100 1,1111 11 I rTo? mXr hi (1956). The young man from Frankfurt was big news. Jurgen Kozel, the German manager, arranged Tuesday's mass interview to put the matter to rest. Gross dutifully went through the motions, but he looked, well, like an Albatross out of water. The Albatross.

That's the name the European press hung on Gross last year. It's one of the reasons why he doesn't like the media. The name refers to his 6-foot-7, 185-pound physique and his wing-span, which measures 7 feet 6 inches. His arms are so long, he can cover more meters in fewer strokes than other swimmers. He doesn't have to push as hard as his competitors so he is stronger down the stretch.

That was never more apparent than in Monday's 100 butterfly final. The favorite, Pedro Morales of the U.S., was leading with 20 meters to go but Gross went past him, his arms churning up the water like an eight-oar shell. Gross's first loss in the Summer Games came later in the afternoon, but it took four Americans to "This is something I've devoted most of my life to," said Moffet, who dropped out of his design studies at Stanford University for a quarter to concentrate completely on final preparations. Moffet grew up comfortably in Southern California, finding competitive swimming on his own at age 11. Mom and Dad never mortgaged the home for coaches' fees or declared high school football games and proms off-limits.

Moffet did those things. And even though he lived near the Mission Viejo swim club, he. did not make that his headquarters because the no-holds-barred regimen there was "just not an atmosphere I like." This week he recalled, "I was never a maniac on workouts." But, by regular human standards, two workouts a day for the last five years certainly put you in the maniac ballpark. Make no mistake, Moffet worked hard. He was so traumatized by Sunday's turn of events that he seems to be suffering partial amnesia.

His memory is sketchy about what he did afterwards. "I went back to my room. I couldn't tell you what I did. I can't remember. I don't think I did anything," he said.

"I saw my parents and my grandparents and my coach, and not much was said. As the anesthetic wore off, it got really, really sore. I played with the computer until I was fuzzy-eyed." One thing he does clearly remember was receiving a message from West German gold medalist Michael Gross on the Games computer system. "After the race, he came up to me with a very compassionate look," said Moffet, the type to notice such a detail. "I forget what he said.

But he really helped me. "Then he sent me a message on the computer, and I sent him one back. He's a class act." Moffet said missing his opportunities for the gold medal was easily the biggest disappointment of his life. "I don't think it can get too much worse," he said. But then later came that typical Moffet come-to-your-senses attitude.

"I'm only 20 years old," he said, reflecting again on the disappointment question. "If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, I'll be in good shape." IS 4 rvt? percent," said U.S. swimmer Mike Heath, fourth-place finisher behind American gold medalist Rowdy Gaines. "Several of us got robbed on the start," Heath said. "As we grabbed the block, he shot the gun.

"It should have been called back, definitely. Something should have been done." Australia's Mark Stockwell, the silver medalist, also sided with Heath. "That was not a fair start," he said. "I thought the starter would call everyone back. "Do they think they can change the rules here in America in order to win or what? I'm trying to be a good sport about this, but I am really disgusted.

Heath was left standing on the block." U.S. head coach Don Gambril didn't protest, but he said he complained. "I sympathize with the Australians and if it had been the other way, I certainly would have protested, too," he said. "I told the starter I felt he did a very poor job." Olympic swimmers were idle Wednesday but return to the pool today for five more medal events: men's 400-meter freestyle, women's 100 butterfly, men's 200 breast-stroke, women's 100 breaststroke and men's 4x100 freestyle relay. U.S.

swim team coach Don Gam- I bril has stayed with the common practice of switching two spots on the freestyle relay teams between the morning preliminaries and evening finals. Gambril has used his first, second, fifth and sixth-best freestylers in qualifying. He replaces the fifth and sixth swim- mers with his well-rested third and fourth-best freestylers in the finals. It's worked both times. U.S.

relay teams have won two gold medals. Steve Lundquist of Jonesboro, U.S. gold medalist in the men's 100-meter backstroke, is in awe of West German freestyle star Michael Gross. Gross was a gold-medal winner both Sunday and Monday night and nearly won a third in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. "I wish I knew what made him tick," Lundquist said.

"He's like a great boxer you keep hitting him, but he won't go down. I don't know him privately, but things I've read KM rp-w wpj rtftm. that they were ready in any order in any event. A third of the way through the optionals, the U.S. lead had been cut by 60 percent.

But Grossfeld wasn't concerned. He told some of his troops to go all out, giving Gaylord the go-ahead for the risky Gaylord II on the high bar. He told others to avoid the unnecessary. And he re- mained unruffled, at least on the outside, while all the history and emotions were unfolding around him. "He had us in the right frame of mind," Daggett said.

"He was real calm, although I don't think he really 1 was, but he acted that way. You need to see strength and calmness in a coach and he had that. And that was good." And so what happens now? In the -next few days, there still are the individual competitions, but the team honor is the one that carries the i most prestige, and some of the Americans may still be reeling from Tuesday night. "Anything else will be frosting," Gaylord said. Down the road, Grossfeld thinks this can't help but give the sport a boost.

"It's gonna help. We hero-worship an awful lot," he said. And, for the first time, the heroes have pronouncable names and understandable accents. "The greatest thing now," said Peter Vidmar, the overall leader entering tonight's all-around finals, "is that we don't have just one hero, we have six. And they all are Americans." Muscle Tear Rends Dream LJP1 TU Gold Catapults Six to Stardom The U.S.

gymnastics team celebrates, above, its gold medal Tuesday night. Mitch Gaylord, performing on the parallel bars, scored a perfect 10 on the rings, helping the U.S. team to their gold medal. Continued From Page Bl Babilonia at Lake Placid in 1980. Gardner had suffered an injury virtually identical to Moffet's, which was a partially torn adductor muscle on the inside of his right thigh.

"It really hit home when they played the tape again during the '84 (Winter) Olympics," said Moffet. "I thought, 'I hope it never happens to Gardner had tried to perform with a numbing shot of Xylocaine, and Moffet, as desperate as Gardner had been to seize the moment that would never come again, also made an attempt to perform with a shot of Xylocaine. It was explained to Moffet by a group of medical specialists that he would risk further damage to the muscle if he agreed to take the shot. "We had five doctors, including two former swimmers, work on the problem," said the U.S. team doctor, William McDaniel, who initially was against giving Moffet the shot.

"We discussed it at great length. And John said, 'Hey, this is the Olympics. If there's any chance in the world, I want to "He's one of the gutsiest kids I've run into." Said Moffet, looking back, "I was scared to death." Of course, Moffet had about as much luck with the numbing shot as Gardner did. Gardner never did take the ice in competition, while Moffet, unable to feel the main muscle that controls his kick, swam the race but trickled in fifth, long after teammate Steve Lundquist had broken Moffet's world record on the way to a gold medal. Although Moffet refuses to rule out the possibility that he will swim Wednesday's 200-meter breast-stroke, he said it would take a miracle.

"He said he's worried," McDaniel said, "that people will think he doesn't have the guts to push through the pain. "But he can't make it. It's the primary muscle he uses in his kick. And the muscle just isn't there. If it was just a matter of withstanding pain, he'd do it.

Believe me." Hobbling to the swim stadium on crutches, which McDaniel said Moffet' would need for five or six days, Moffet sat down to reflect on his disappointment. Continued From Page Bl in that there was no hint that the Soviets would be no-shows. But the United States has done a lot of catching up in the past several years, and much of the reason is that they've stayed together as a team and had the same national coach. Grossf eld coached the men's team in 1972, had been an assistant in two other Olympics and a competitor in the still two more. He coached them in the world championships in 1981 and 1983.

He knows them as well as any part-time (as in unsalaried) coach can know them. And that is why this achievement is as precious to him as it is to the gymnasts. "I compared this to the U.S. hockey team beating the Russians and the reason is because it's so hard to upset a team in our sport," Grossfeld said. "It's really difficult.

Maybe we had a better chance against China than they did against the Russians. But in i a game situation, it's a little more unpredictable than in a sport like ours. That's, what makes it so hard." And so rewarding. Grossfeld and the gymnasts knew the gold was attainable after winning the compul-sories Sunday night. It would have been unprecedented and unthinkable for them not to have won it after taking the compulsories.

"After the compulsories, we felt just about the same as we did last night," Grossfeld said. The coach gave his players sheets of paper and asked them to tell him what they thought the order should be in each event for the determining optionals. All the players said they didn't care,.