Age of Amphibians

How can an American family protect its children from drugs, revolution and general hell raising? It might try keeping them wet. At least no generation has ever found itself so much at home in the water. At the A.A.U. national outdoor swimming championships in Los Angeles last week, the tanned young amphibians splashed to an incredible 13 world records in 30 events. The new marks--ten for the boys and three for the girls--left the U.S. in possession of 14 of the 16 world records for men, and 13 of the 15 for women.

Three of those records fell to Gary Hall, an amiable 19-year-old who specializes in the butterfly and the individual medley. It was nothing new for Gary. He broke three world records in this meet last year too. John Kinsella, 18, and Mark Spitz, 20, set new standards for freestylers, Kinsella in the 400 and 1500 meters, and Spitz in the 100-meter glamour race with a steaming 0:51.941. World marks in the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter backstroke fell, respectively, to Brian Job, 18, and Mike Stamm, 18. Alice Jones, 18, led the girls by breaking world records in both the 100-and 200-meter butterfly. Nonpareil Debbie Meyer, 18, broke her own record in the 400-meter freestyle.

Though the winners of 20 of the 24 individual events are Californian or California-trained, the widest smile on the West Coast was on the face of a gray-haired Hoosier. Indiana University's redoubtable Dr. Jim Counsilman will have Hall, Kinsella, Spitz and Stamm swimming for his N.C.A.A. champion team next winter. As Dr. Jim, who coached U.S. Olympic champs in Tokyo in 1964, sums it up: "I wouldn't want to coach another country in the 1972 Olympics."

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