58 Years of Gator Records Broken!

It was 1978.  Cal Ripken, Jr. was drafted by the Orioles.  It was the year the Washington pro basketball franchise won the NBA title.  The top movies were Grease, Superman, and, of course, the finest cinema verite of the year, Animal House! Followers of Jim Jones had a really bad year, while peace in the Middle East had a really good year.

On Monday, July 27th, Bill Martin was fired by the New York Yankees, who then caught the Red Sox from 14 games behind, won a one game playoff (Bucky Dent!), the ALCS, and the World Series.  On the same day Martin was fired, Mike Labonge of the Mount Vernon Park Gators swam the 15-18 boys 100 IM in 1:04.10.

It was a record that stood the test of time, until Kevin Adams-Mardi knocked Mr. Labonge out of Gator glory on Monday night at the Individual Medley Invitational.  Kevin swam it in a scintillating 1:03.42 to break it by 0.68 seconds.  Kevin took 2.56 seconds off his seed time to make sure the record went down.

Kevin's swim caused his parents to say "You light up my life."  He celebrated by "Shadow Dancing" -- he had "Night Fever" because he was "Stayin' Alive."  He had no problems swimming, despite being "Thicker than Water."  The timers knew they were watching something special, because they started singing "Baby Come Back."

(Editor's Note: So you are saying 1978 was the height of the disco era?  Reporter: No, more like the height of the disco error, but no one can resist "Stayin' Alive!").

Fast forward 14 years to 1992.  Rodney King literally took a beating, while George H.W. Bush figuratively took one.  The Redskins won their last Super Bowl before the Daniel Snyder error era began.  The NY football Giants have won two since then, but who's counting?  (I am!)  Alas, the Yankees did not win the World Series, but neither did the Red Sox, so that's okay.  Duke won the NCAA championship.

(Editor's Note: I'm glad you still use "literally" and "figuratively" correctly.  Reporter: I literally cannot believe they did that!).

Movies that were similar -- Aladdin and Basic Instinct -- were both hits.

Editor's Note: Exactly how are those two movies "similar"?  Reporter: They both show that relationships can be difficult.  Editor: (Speechless).

On July 20, 1992, Sir-Mix-a-Lot capped his career with the number hit in the country, "Baby Got Back." Lance Wormel of the Gators set the boys 13-14 IM record with a time of 1:10.68.  Twenty-two years later, Cameron Morey broke that mark, swimming a 1:09.65 -- taking a full 1.03 seconds off.  Cameron's seed time was 1:13.04, so he swam a personal best by a full 3.39 seconds!

Congratulations to both swimmers -- breaking team records from before they were born!  (The scary thing is, undoubtedly there are a few Gator parents who are younger than the 36 year old record that was smashed!)  Kevin broke a 36 year old record, while Cameron took down a 22 year old mark -- so in two swims, a combined 58 years of Gator records were erased!

Three records from the 1970s still remain, so if they get broken next year, there will be more trips down memory lane!