History Spotlight
The Closest Race in Olympic History
Dad Alex McKee with six of his nine swimming children
by Doug Humes Photos courtesy of the Newtown Square Historical Society
Tim McKee looked up from the pool at the 1972 Munich Olympics and saw the number “1” next to his name. He had won the 400 I.M. (Individual Medley) in a time of 4:31:98. After a lifetime of training, the gold medal was his. Looking down from the stands was his proud father, Alex McKee, who had been an Olympic-caliber swimmer for Ohio State in 1939. Alex had been a good bet to make the 1940 Olympics swim team. And then came World War II. The 1940 Olympics were canceled. When Captain McKee returned from Army service, his Olympic competition opportunity window had closed. He transferred his dreams to his 9 children, and in 1961, he moved his family near Newtown Square’s then-new
Tim and Gunnar, awaiting the results in 1972
Suburban Swim Club. His children could walk out their back door and down a trail through woods to the club. The McKee children were all terrific swimmers, and now one of them, 19-year-old Tim, had won gold. Or had he?!? The scoreboard showed that Gunnar Larson of Sweden had finished in the exact same time as Tim, down to a hundredth of a second. Larson’s name also showed the number “1.” In 1972, electronic timing was still relatively new: It was a touchpad wired to a central computer. The timing device actually measured the impulse to the thousandth of a second. It was opened and new times were flashed up. Tim had lost, by .002 of a second. Science had determined the winner. And Tim proudly accepted his silver medal while Larson received gold. When Tim got back home to Newtown Square, he received letters from various scientists, who pointed out just how small
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