Word: ruuska
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When 16-year-old Sylvia Ruuska arrived in Australia early last month, toting her textbooks to keep up on high school homework, the reception was overwhelming. "Back home I guess that hardly anyone's ever heard of me," she said. "But out here everyone seems to know all about my times and everything. It's fantastic." Sylvia cuddled koalas, toured amusement parks, visited Dancer Fred Astaire on a movie set, but never lost sight of why she had come: to show swim-conscious Australians what an American girl could do. By the time she returned to California this...
Sylvia began to swim competitively when she was seven under the watchful eye of her Finnish-born father, a bear of a man (6 ft., 260 Ibs.) who works as an electrician and doubles as swimming coach for the Berkeley Y.M.C.A. Father Weikko Ruuska drills her incessantly, lumbers up and down the poolside while Sylvia performs, shouting "Giddyap, giddyap!" in a voice that some declare can be heard all the way across San Francisco Bay on clear nights. The Ruuska family practices togetherness. Each morning Mrs. Ruuska drives Sylvia to Berkeley High School on her way to the Y.M.C.A., where...
...North Sydney, Australia, the U.S.'s 16-year-old Sylvia Ruuska splashed to victory in the 220-yd. butterfly, touching out in 2 min. 40.3 sec., to set new world records for both 220 yds. and 200 meters. Aussies John Devitt and John Konrads lowered their own world freestyle marks, Devitt at 110 yds., Konrads at 440 yds. and 400 meters...
Last week Chris had to share top billing with 16-year-old Sylvia Ruuska of Berkeley, Calif., another potential world-beater who specializes in the longer distances. Sylvia set a world record (5:43.7) in the 400-meter individual medley, an American mark (20:34.6) in the 1,500-meter freestyle. In the one event where the two met, Sylvia used her greater strength to outlast the smoother-stroking Chris in the 400-meter freestyle. At week's end, U.S. prospects for dethroning the Australian girls looked brighter...