Where the Swimmers Are

The 93 heads and 41 arms visibly bobbing and flailing in the Casino Pool at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. belong to only a few of the several hundred topflight swimmers assembled at the annual College Coaches Swimming Forum. Fort Lauderdale has a reputation—well publicized by the raffish novel Where the Boys Are—as a far-out place for far-out young people, at least for one far-out week every spring. But Lauderdale is also a haven for the unbeat. During Christmas vacation each year, boy and girl swimmers from all over the country gather there for a two-week-long cram course in competitive swimming, well mixed, of course, with fun, beach parties and surfing.

Swimmers off duty behave like busmen—they go to the beach. Brawny men swimmers duck some of the pretty girls (above), combat the foaming surf with kick boards (below), or (opposite) blanket-toss girls like 14-year-old Ginna Thieme.

FOUR PHOTOS

JERRY COOKE