Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Inside with Brett Hawke
Episode: #289 Craig Beardsley reflects on his career, the 1980 Olympic Boycott, and Swim Across America
Description: Craig Beardsley is a former World Record holder in the 200 Fly. He qualified for the 1980 Olympics but didn't get to compete due to President Jimmy Carter's boycott.Â
Beardsley set the World Record of 1:58.21 in the 200- meter butterfly on July 30, 1980, one week after the Olympic Games—a time that was over a second faster than Soviet swimmer Sergey Fesenko‘s gold medal time in the 1980 Olympic finals.   Â
After the United States–led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, Beardsley continued to train. He held both the American and World Records from 1980 to 1983. Swimming World Magazine named Beardsley...