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]

Swimming at the 1979 Pan American Games
«1975 1983»

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   details	David McCagg (USA)	50.77	Fernando Cañales (PUR)	51.25	John Newton (USA)	51.45
200 m freestyle   details	Rowdy Gaines (USA)	1:51.22	David Larson (USA)	1:52.24	Djan Madruga (BRA)	1:52.34
400 m freestyle   details	Brian Goodell (USA)	3:53.01	Djan Madruga (BRA)	3:57.46	Peter Szmidt (CAN)	3:58.34
1500 m freestyle   details	Brian Goodell (USA)	15:24.36	Djan Madruga (BRA)	15:41.74	Bobby Hackett (USA)	15:46.83
100 m backstroke   details	Bob Jackson (USA)	56.66	Rômulo Arantes (BRA)	57.20	Steve Pickell (CAN)	57.89
200 m backstroke   details	Peter Rocca (USA)	2:00.98	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	2:02.07	Djan Madruga (BRA)	2:04.74
100 m breaststroke   details	Steve Lundquist (USA)	1:03.82	Greg Winchell (USA)	1:04.76	Graham Smith (CAN)	1:05.66
200 m breaststroke   details	Steve Lundquist (USA)	2:21.97	John Simmons (USA)	2:22.45	Pablo Restrepo (COL)	2:23.13
100 m butterfly   details	Robert Placak (USA)	55.54	Dan Thompson (CAN)	55.56	Clay Evans (CAN)	56.63
200 m butterfly   details	Craig Beardsley (USA)	2:00.49	George Nagy (CAN)	2:02.15	Bill Sawchuk (CAN)	2:02.93
200 m individual medley   details	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	2:03.29 WR	Graham Smith (CAN)	2:05.86	Scott Spann (USA)	2:06.29
400 m individual medley   details	Jesse Vassallo (USA)	4:21.63	Bill Sawchuk (CAN)	4:30.21	Alex Baumann (CAN)	4:32.42
4×100 m freestyle relay   details	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   details	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   details	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   details	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	56.22	Jill Sterkel (USA)	56.24	Gail Amundrud (CAN)	57.79
200 m freestyle   details	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	1:58.43 WR	Kim Linehan (USA)	2:01.92	Gail Amundrud (CAN)	2:03.38
400 m freestyle   details	Cynthia Woodhead (USA)	4:10.56	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	4:16.13	Wendy Quirk (CAN)	4:17.34
800 m freestyle   details	Kim Linehan (USA)	8:39.82	Jennifer Hooker (USA)	8:50.71	Barbara Shockey (CAN)	8:54.82
100 m backstroke   details	Linda Jezek (USA)	1:03.33	Cheryl Gibson (CAN)	1:05.17	Teresa Rivera (MEX)	1:06.87
200 m backstroke   details	Linda Jezek (USA)	2:16.07	Cheryl Gibson (CAN)	2:17.58	Libby Kinkead (USA)	2:20.19
100 m breaststroke   details	Tami Paumier (USA)	1:12.20	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	1:12.52	Anne Gagnon (CAN)	1:14.38
200 m breaststroke   details	Anne Gagnon (CAN)	2:35.75	Joanne Bédard (CAN)	2:40.22	Patricia Speeds (USA)	2:40.79
100 m butterfly   details	Jill Sterkel (USA)	1:00.53	Lisa Buese (USA)	1:00.59	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	1:02.96
200 m butterfly   details	Mary T. Meagher (USA)	2:09.77 WR	Karinne Miller (USA)	2:15.05	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	2:16.40
200 m individual medley   details	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	2:16.11	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	2:19.36	Anne Tweedy (USA)	2:20.33
400 m individual medley   details	Tracy Caulkins (USA)	4:46.05	Anne Tweedy (USA)	4:47.19	Nancy Garapick (CAN)	4:53.37
4×100 m freestyle relay   details	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   details	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 entries)		29	29	29	87

References

• Hickoksports
• Results^{[dead link‍]}
• Folha Online
• USA Swimming

1. "ISHOF list with all medalists in Pan Am Games history" (PDF). ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-10.
2. Odir Cunha (2007). Heróis da América - História Completa dos Jogos Pan-Americanos. Editora Planeta. ISBN 8576652803.