Adrian Moorhouse - Rivalry With Victor Davis

Rivalry With Victor Davis

Canadian Victor Davis first encountered Adrian Moorhouse at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane when Davis took gold in the 200 m breaststroke, and Moorhouse took the gold in the 100 m breaststroke. Both races were very close, and an intense rivalry began.

They met again later at the 1982 World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but this time Davis had the upper hand in both events, taking the gold in the 200 m and silver in the 100 m. Moorhouse, also in his first World Championships, only managed to finish 5th in the 100 m, and 7th in the 200 m.

Their next encounter was at the 1984 Olympics and it seemed that both their chances were enhanced by the boycott of East Germany and the Soviet Union. The 1984 Games were perhaps Victor Davis’ finest competition, as he took gold in the 200 m and silver in the 100 m. Meanwhile, Moorhouse suffered badly. Having had severe tonsillitis just days before the start of the Games, he finished 4th in the 100 m and 6th in the 200 m. Davis, now at the pinnacle of his swimming career, was voted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.

At the time of the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Victor Davis took gold in the 100 m event. However, Adrian Moorhouse was improving rapidly. Now the European Champion, he surprised Davis by sneaking the gold in the 200 m event.

By the time of the 1986 World Championships in Madrid, the world swimming media were hyping up the 100 m breaststroke event as ‘the event of the championships’, knowing that it would inevitably prove to be another great battle between Victor Davis and Adrian Moorhouse. The media, along with the 6,000 crowd, were not to be disappointed. Moorhouse was in great shape, and getting faster all the time. Davis couldn't contain Moorhouse over the final 25 m, and Moorhouse took the 100 m gold in a new European Record of 1.02.01 secs. Davis took the silver in 1:02.71 and looked disgusted with himself as he climbed out of the pool. However, the controversy was soon about to begin.

The officials decided to disqualify Moorhouse for an ‘illegal turn’, stating that he had used a butterfly kicking action during the underwater phase of the 50 m turn. TV crews from around the world began to analyse the footage of the ‘illegal turn’ from all conceivable angles, but each time it looked perfectly sound.

The British camp tried to appeal against the decision, but the call of the ‘turn judge’ was upheld and Victor Davis was awarded the gold medal, leaving Moorhouse with nothing. Davis received his gold medal on the rostrum looking decidedly dejected; he was the ultimate perfectionist and didn’t feel he had truly won this race against his closest rival. He also knew Moorhouse well and was aware that it had taken more than just an "illegal turn" for him to beat Davis by more than half a second. Later in the same championships, Davis went on to take silver in the 200 m breaststroke — beaten by the emerging Hungarian swimmer, Josef Szabo. Meanwhile, Moorhouse withdrew from the 200 m event with a strained adductor muscle.

The final encounter between Davis and Moorhouse at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, which also proved to be Davis’ final international competition. Both of them had announced before the Games that the 100 m event was to be their main priority. Davis had performed poorly at the Canadian Olympic Trials, and had not been selected for the200 m breaststroke, while Moorhouse was then in the form of his life. He was ranked number one in the world, and his lifetime best of 1:01.78 was then very close to the world record 1:01.65.

Davis, still the Canadian record holder at 1:01.99, was only ranked 6th in the world going into the 1988 Olympics and no-one really knew what kind of shape he was going to be in. In the morning heats, Davis looked very impressive. He led the field from the start, and easily won his heat in a time of 1:02.48. Only Moorhouse was able to qualify in a faster time, winning his heat in 1:02.19.

In the anticipation before the final, many people believed that Moorhouse was the slight favourite, but some pundits still had the feeling that Davis had one more great swim left up his sleeve. After one false start, Moorhouse looked the more nervous of the two behind the starting blocks. Meanwhile, Davis looked calm. At the second start, both Davis and Dmitri Volkov of the USSR began strongly, leaving Moorhouse slightly trailing. Volkov opened a 2-metre lead over the first 50 m, and Davis was matched stroke for stroke by Moorhouse. Volkov touched first at the 50 m mark in 28.12 s, setting a new 50 metre breaststroke world record. Moorhouse turned 6th in 29.42 s, and Davis turned 7th in 29.46 s. Volkov made an exceptional turn, extending his lead. As Volkov reached the 75 m mark, he looked a certainty for the gold medal. He was 3–4 metres ahead of Moorhouse, Davis and Károly Güttler of Hungary, but he was tiring fast. It was at this point of the race where Davis and Moorhouse usually made their move, and they closed in on Volkov. In an extremely close finish, Moorhouse took the gold in 1:02.04, just ahead of Guttler’s time of 1:02.05. The bronze medal was won by Volkov, in a time of 1:02.20, leaving Victor Davis in 4th place, with a time of 1:02.38.