At the ‘84 Olympic Games, the Dutch women may have deserved an award for the most medals from the smallest country: a total of six, incl. Van Staveren’s gold and Verstappen’s bronze.

U.S. swimmers, men and women, left opponents in their wake

The shape of a swimming race, when form holds, begins as a shallow V, swept back from Lane 4, where the fastest qualifier starts, to the humble wing positions of Lanes 1 and 8. The V sharpens until, if…