Casey Converse writes book on the 1976 Olympic Team
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
The Greatest Olympic Story Never Told (courtesy of Springs magazine)
Interview with the author (courtesy of Springs magazine)
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force Academy women's swimming coach Casey Converse has authored a book about the 1976 Olympic women's swimming team, titled "Munich to Montreal". The book launch/signing is scheduled for Sunday, March 13, from 2-5 p.m., at the Stir Coffee Shop in the Bon Shopping Center in Colorado Springs.
Converse is in his 31st year as a college swimming coach and his 28th at the Air Force Academy. With an overall dual meet record of 305-202-2 at Air Force, Converse is the winningest swim coach in Academy history and led the Falcons to a pair of NCAA Division II Championships.
As an athlete, Converse swam on the USA's 1976 men's team in Montreal, finishing 12th in the 400 freestyle. The following year, he became the first person to swim the 1650 under 15 minutes, winning the NCAA Championship and setting the American Record for the University of Alabama.
With more than four decades observing the sport of swimming as an athlete and coach, Converse is in a unique position to reflect upon the obstacles facing the USA Women's team in the revolutionary era of international swimming between the Munich Games and Montreal.
This book chronicles the struggles of the 1976 women's team as they faced limited opportunities to train after high school, the emergence of high-volume training as the new standard for the sport; and the darkest cloud ever to appear over the sport---systematic steroid doping of East German swimmers by coaches and medical doctors.
In 2014, Converse served as Technical Consultant for the USA Swimming documentary The Last Gold, which chronicles the lead up to the Montreal Games and the epic final "great race" in Montreal between the USA women and the East Germans in the 4x100 freestyle relay.
For more information visit the official website of the book at www.munichtomontreal.com or email the author at kcconverse@munichtomontreal.com.
