THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Roundup : Jeff Kubiak Sets Record as American Swimmers Win Four of Five Golds

Jeff Kubiak had his stroke down, before and during the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday.

Kubiak, who painted the toenails on his left foot red and those on his right foot blue before the race, set a Pan American Games record as the United States took four of five swimming gold medals.

“This gives me all the confidence in the world,” Kubiak said. “This is by far the best I’ve ever done.”

Kubiak, who is from Davis, Calif., and attends Cal State Northridge, smashed the record of 2:19.31 set by Steve Lundquist in 1983 with a time of 2:17.62.

The United States narrowly missed a sweep of the day’s events when Canadian Keltie Duggan edged Lori Heisick of Edina, Minn., by .06 of a second in the 100-meter breaststroke. The four victories increased America’s gold medals to 15 in 20 events.

Other U.S. winners included Paul Robinson of Richardson, Tex., in the 400-meter freestyle; Janel Jorgensen, Ridgefield, Conn., in the 100-meter butterfly, and the 400-meter relay team of Robinson, Jim Born of Gambier, Ohio, Scott MacAdam of Waterloo, Iowa, and Todd Dudley of Raleigh, N.C., which set a Pan Am Games record of 3:19.97. They broke the record of 3:21.41 set by the U.S. team in 1983.

Sally Gilbert, a member of the Canadian women’s swim team, tested positive for minute traces of antihistamines after her team finished third in the 800-meter relay.

A spokesperson for Mario Vazquez Rana of Mexico, head of the Pan American Sports Organizations, said officials decided the amount “was so small they decided not to make it an official case.”

Gilbert was given a pill by a friend to clear up a clogged nose, said Canadian Coach Tom Johnson. The medication in antihistamines is included in the list of more than 3,700 banned substances.

Mike Gonzales edged American teammate Keith Robinson in the decathlon, which wasn’t decided until the final event.

Gonzales, of Los Angeles, led Robinson by 35 points entering the 1,500-meter run, the last of 10 events in the two-day competition, and broke away from his teammate on the final turn of that race. Gonzalez finished with 7,649 points to 7,573 for Robinson.

Ecuador’s Fidel Solorzano, the first-day leader, was forced to withdraw after injuring his left ankle during warm-ups for the pole vault. He had already fallen to fourth place.

Pooh Richardson of UCLA had 4 points and 4 assists during a 15-0 run to start the game, and the United States trounced Venezuela, 109-74, in men’s basketball.

David Robinson and Rex Chapman scored 17 points each as the the United States won its 32nd straight game in Pan Am competition. Pervis Ellison and Danny Manning added 15 apiece.

The United States improved to 4-0 in Pool A play and advanced to the quarterfinals, which begin Sunday. Venezuela fell to 2-1.

Michele Granger threw a one-hitter as the U.S. women’s softball team, which hasn’t allowed a run in four games, downed Belize, 6-0.

Granger, a 17-year-old left-hander from Placentia, struck out 14 and walked three in seven innings. The only hit for Belize (0-4) was a chopper up the middle by Jacqueline Moody that Granger got a glove on but couldn’t catch.

The U.S. men improved their record to 5-0 with a 10-4 rout of Colombia. Dale Clark of Lebanon, Pa., led a 15-hit attack with three hits and five runs batted in.

Olympic silver medalist Mario Martinez set three Pan Am Games weightlifting records, giving the U.S. its first gold medals of the competition.

The U.S. team claimed 12 medals, topping the total of 11 it won in the previous four days of competition.

Cyclist Gabriel Curuchet of Argentina defeated American David Brinton to win the gold medal in the men’s 4,000-meter individual pursuit.

Curuchet, 24, won in 4:47.27, nearly two seconds faster than Brinton, who was timed in 4:49.08.

Cuba, favored to win its fifth consecutive women’s volleyball gold medal, needed just 71 minutes to defeat Brazil in the opening match for both teams.

Cuba never trailed in any of the games, winning, 15-6, 15-7, 15-7, behind Mireya Luis.

The American women won their first match, rallying to beat Canada, 11-15, 15-12, 15-11, 15-8.

Don Nygord of the United States took the gold medal in men’s air pistol, teammate Mike English won running game target and the U.S. team took air pistol competition in the shooting competition.

Nygord, of La Crescenta, set a Pan Am record with 583 points.

English, of Colorado Springs, Colo., won with a score of 585.

In the team air pistol event, the U.S. team won with a score of 1,727. Nygord was joined on the three-man team by Gregory Appleton of Coppell, Tex., and Erich Baljung of Ft. Benning, Ga.

Kamie Ethridge of Texas, the starting point guard for the U.S. women’s basketball team, will miss the rest of the Pan Am Games due to a knee injury.

MEDAL STANDINGS

G S B Tot United States 74 56 49 179 Cuba 45 26 20 91 Canada 12 26 44 82 Argentina 8 4 12 24 Brazil 9 6 8 23 Venezuela 2 7 8 17 Colombia 1 7 8 16 Mexico 5 3 2 10 Puerto Rico 2 3 5 10 Costa Rica 3 2 2 7 Dom. Republic 0 1 4 5 Jamaica 1 2 1 4 Bahamas 0 2 2 4 Panama 0 3 0 3 Peru 0 2 0 3 Ecuador 0 1 2 3 Nicaragua 0 0 3 3 Trinidad 0 1 1 2 Uruguay 0 2 0 2 Suriname 1 0 0 1 U.S. Virgin Is. 0 1 0 1 Bermuda 0 0 1 1 Chile 0 0 1 1 Honduras 0 0 1 1