Hall of Famer Dave Sime dies at 79; WR man had masters brush
Sprinters who recall the heyday of the 1950s are mourning the death of Dave Sime (pronounced sim). He held world records in the 100, 220 and low hurdles and won silver behind Armin Hary at the Rome Games. The New York Times does his legacy justice. It had an intriguing aside: “At 35, as a lark, he ran 100 yards in a Miami meet (he mistakenly thought it was a Masters track and field event for those over 30) in 9.6 seconds over a cement surface. He told The Times, ‘It was probably the first track meet I ever enjoyed.'” That seems odd, since in 1971, masters were men 40 and over. Dave doesn’t appear in mastershistory.org. Whatever. I’d love to hear your memories of Dave.
5 Responses
Good debate on Dave’s 9.6 at 35:
http://trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/showthread.php?137737-Dave-Sime-RIP
I never saw Sime run in person but he, along with Morrow, were my early idols. I’ve watched the video of his 100 in Rome several dozen times. He must have been 3m back from Armin Hary at the 40 but he closed to lose by an inch. His top speed was amazing. As his obit indicated, he was also an outstanding baseball and football player. But his greatest accomplishment was later. He was arguably the best eye surgeon in the U.S. L.A. Times’ sports writer, Jim Murray, even flew to Miami to have Dr. Sime work on him. It’s very depressing for me to see another superstar sprinter from the late-50s/early-60s pass. Add him now to Hayes, Carr, Tidwell, Budd, Drayton, Trenton Jackson, Plummer. They’re all gone.
His legacy is very well represented by his grandson Christian McCaffrey who should have won the Heisman trophy this past year.
Thanks for that video of Dave and Bobby Morrow. Being a Melbourne boy, Bobby was my hero after 1956. My recollection of Dave was that he ran the first sub 20 sec 200m on a straight 200 track. I could Google it but for fun I’ll put it out there without checking it. RIP Dave
Dave Sime played centerfield for the Duke baseball team when they played FSU in Tallahassee. FSU had a speedy player whose name I do not remember, and an impromptu 100 yard (or so) dash was conducted along the 1st base–right field foul line before the game. Of course, Sime won handily. As I look back, that was really a classy move on his part. I never forgot it.
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