Mr. Smith in Manhattan

What Man o' War was in racing and Big Bill Tilden in tennis, 24-year-old Chicagoan Adolph Kiefer has been in backstroke swimming. He holds every world's backstroke record, in nine years never lost a race. But as it must to most rulers, dethroning came to Kiefer last week. In the National A.A.U. swimming meet in Manhattan, Kiefer, now a Chief Specialist at the Norfolk Naval Training Station, finally lost a 150-yard backstroke race to a 6 ft. 5 in. Michigan sophomore named Harry Holiday.

That was a U.S. swimming milestone. But the chief thrill at last week's meet was a duel between two youngsters vying for the title of America's greatest freestyle sprinter--Yale's 19-year-old Alan Ford, who recently broke the world's 100-yd. free-style record, and Ohio State's 18-year-old Bill Smith Jr. At meet's end the question of who was greatest was not conclusively answered. Smith beat Ford easily in the 220; Ford beat Smith easily in the 100, neither in world-record time. But there was no question about who was star of the meet. Appearing in his first national indoor meet, in two days amphibious, kinky-haired Bill Smith swam nine races (including trial heats and relays), lost only in the 100, won the 440 title as well as the 220. He was mainly responsible for Ohio State swamping Michigan and Yale, 46-to-34-to-22.

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