On March 21, 1971, junior Kathy Heinze traveled to Riga, Latvia, then part of the U.S.S.R., for the U.S.S.R. International Invitational swim meet. The 10-person American delegation was part of the first group of Americans to travel to the U.S.S.R. since 1966 — an example of the chilly relations between the countries during the Cold War.
Heinze, who competed with the Santa Clara swim team after moving to Saratoga in 1970, had previously traveled throughout Europe as part of her competition with the German team. At 15, she broke the previous record for the 400m individual medley.
In turn, the U.S.S.R. was invited for the first time to the 1971 Santa Clara International swim meet, which was held in the summer.
This account is a summary of a story that appeared in the edition of The Falcon that was distributed on March 26, 1971. The story was written by Lisa Keith.
