Class of the Field

Trackside dockers were not at all surprised to see the handsome sorrel-topped fellow open a big lead and then ease up. He won breezing. Then they looked at their watches again. In his qualifying heat for the 220-yd. dash at the Atlantic Coast Conference track meet in Durham, N.C. last week, long-legged (6 ft. 2 in., 187 Ibs.) Duke Sophomore Dave Sime (rhymes with skim) had run off a casual 0:20.1 to crack Mel Patton's seven-year-old world record by a tenth of a second. Next day, running into a light head wind, Sime had to settle for 0:09.5 in the 100-yd. dash, 0:20.3 in the 220-yd. dash and 0:22.4 in the 220-yd. hurdles. All the times were slower than the world marks he had hoped for; still he had set three new conference records.

Setting world records is getting to be old hat with trim young (19) Sprinter Sime. This winter he set a new mark for the indoor 100-yd. dash (0:09.5); fortnight ago he shaved the 220-yd. low-hurdle record to 0:22.2. And if his father, Aircraft Plant Guard Charles Sime, has his way, the rapid young man will be a long time slowing down. After his world-record dash last week, Dave had hardly caught his breath when he was talking on the telephone to his dad in Fair Lawn, N.J. "Next time do it faster," was Charles Sime's peremptory order.

Backyard Hoop. A veteran of professional baseball and basketball, Father Sime has always felt a drive to teach his son his own driving urge to excel in sports. As soon as young Dave could handle a basketball there was a backyard hoop. "When I was five," he recalls, "Dad had me out hitting baseballs. Dad always told me to run faster, throw harder, hit farther. He never has been completely satisfied."

Happily, Dave had the smooth-muscled and supple physique to handle his strenuous coaching. He was a three-letter man in high school (baseball, football and basketball); when he graduated he had no trouble getting a scholarship from Duke University. Dave so impressed Duke coaches with his speed on the baseball diamond that before his freshman spring was over, he was working out part-time with the track team.

Poised for Bop. Sime had a lot to learn. But he was willing. He ran up and down the deep rows of seats in Duke stadium to build up his stamina and improve his balance. "Balance is everything," he says--and when he is going well, he is so perfectly poised that he seems to float over the cinders. He is also incredibly relaxed during a meet, a quality he attributes to his dancing to bebop music whenever he can. "A good bop keeps you nice and loose. If I go out and bop, I feel O.K. the next day."

Fortnight ago in another meet, he was even relaxed enough to take a crack at the broad jump, finished second with 23 ft. 3 1/2 in. But he hurt his hip in the process, and Coach Chambers served notice that Dave would jump no more until after the Olympic trials in June. Said Chambers: "I just got a letter from [Big Ten Commissioner] Tug Wilson. He said that sometimes it's been known that a man can get hurt broad jumping and please would I consider leaving Dave out of it for a while. Tug said that Dave could be the best we've got anywhere in the country, and might even be the best in the world."

It could well be that the coming Olympics will prove Tug Wilson a prophet.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.