How about the women at the 1976 games? Three letter - GDR - and one word - doping (not proven at the time, but now known as fact). The East German team took 11 of 13 golds, 6 of 11 silvers, and 1 bronze. The USA's Shirley Babashoff (wrongly accused of making false statements about swimmers and doping) took silver in four events, and was part of one of the most amazing relays I've ever seen. The USA women's team had no business thinking they could race the East Germans if you looked at the swimmer's best times on paper - but we all know that paper does not hold up well in water. In an awesome team performance, Kim Peyton, Jill Sterkel, Shirley Babashoff, and Wendy Boglioli took the gold.
1980 - The boycott games. Moscow hosted the Olympics and some countries, including the USA, decided not to play. The USA women's team was set to shine in 1980, but that would not happen. The men's team was not bad, either, but neither got to swim in the Olympics. So what did happen in Moscow? Fast swimming to be sure. The Soviet men took 7 out of 13 golds, 7 out of 11 silvers, and 3 of 11 bronze. The (chemically-enhanced)GDR women took 11 out of 13 gold, 8 of 11 silvers, and 7 of 11 bronze medals. This was the last Olympics that allowed a country to enter more than two swimmers in an event!
