Best Swim Race Ever?
By SilentPatriot Sunday Aug 10, 2008 4:00pm
I must admit that I don't follow the sport of swimming very closely. Like everyone else in the world I've heard of Michael Phelps and his pursuit of a perfect 8 gold medals, but that's about the extent of it. Last night's 4x100m mens race, however, may have changed all that. This was the one race where Phelps' perfect run was thought to be in jeopardy. The French team, whose trash-talking only fueled the Americans' fire, was heavily favored and appeared to have the race in the bag until the final leg. You just gotta see how this race ended.
NBC Olympics Video (final lap starts at around 4:30)
What a finish. Let's hope Phelps can stay focused and win the remaining 6 golds.
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Phelps largely owes this one to Jason Lezak who's missing from the post above.
That race was so exciting. Lezak saved everyone's ass.
Phelps who?
Yes, that's very nice. My friend Sylvia (Competitive gymnast in late 80s) is sitting happily in Zurich watching the Olympics live on five channels and no commercials and downloading events for me onto dvd data discs and popping them in the mails so I can see the Olympics too, like the rest of the world gets to.
NBC sucks!
Oh the Olympics right that okay I thought this was Fred Phelps nephew or something.
Like everyone else in the world
You should change that to, like most olympics fans. . . to maintain your journalistic credibility.
Mark Spitz is totally disillusioned, as he should be. He won all 7 events that existed in 1972, all by world records; the olympic committee didn't invite him to be there to see Phelps's shot at the record. Spitz rightly said that it would be embarrassing for him to anonymously show up in the stadium. Shame on the olympic committee; give this guy his due respect!
That said, Phelps seems like a great guy, and I hope he gets (ties, really) the record.
Otherwise, I happen to be cheering against China for the most part; nothing against their athletes, but I don't like this government getting the glory and the people feeling proud of this ill-led country.
Glad the thrash talkers lost. Thats so unsportsmanlike.
Lezak's turn was unbelievable. He really nailed it.
We won the Gold with a black man on the team. Someone should let the Law Makers know that. The GOP is so full of hate and racism but you can bet they cheered for the USA swimming team. A black man can't be President but a black man can help the USA win the Gold. Now you see why other countries see the US as stupid.
ronnyg @ 7:
Agreed. But thats the way America treats it's own people. You get used then disregarded and tossed into the street.
USA! USA!
stick it to those trash-talking Frenchies.
forget phelps...this race was won because of a jew and an african american
minority rule baby
btw, while i really appreciate that nbc is streaming many sports that we usually dont get to see, i dont appreciate the fact that they still tape delay to the west coast
therefore, nbc should be aware that many on the west coast are pulling down pirate feeds to watch the olympics
the race wasnt shown on the wc until 1130 pm wc time...that was bs
and i wish they would tell their commentators to tone it down a bit....and the sideline people really blow chunks
the good thing about the venues that are streamed....they dont have commentators, just experts that text what is really going on during the action
i learned more about judo last nite than i ever have
as for swimming, i find it really interesting that the half suits are more aerodynamic than skin
so i guess the greeks were wrong about competing in the nude
oh, and kudos to adlington for out touching hoff
hoff is a total cutie, and i feel sorry for her...but you have to admire the brit for absolute tenacity
and a little note to our french brothers...dudes, americans already dont like you guys...so trash talking during the olympics aint gonna make them like you any better
I'm an Olympics fan and a sailor. Wanted to see sailing events but I don't have Windows Vista and all international torrents like BBC and CBC are blocked to United States. I saw Phelps. That did rock!
Jamie @ 4:
shhhh...dont tell anyone, but here is where you can watch the aussie feeds for free
http://www.tvchannelsfree.com/
best moment of the olympics so far.
This was amazing. It was by far the greatest comeback win I've ever seen.
I pray that it isn't marred by doping allegations because that looked like 100% American Heart at work.
When the French talk smack and then get owned by our boys it brings a little tear to my eye.
No one hears the second place finisher's national anthem...
Since Mark Spitz called the Wha-mbulance, who cares.
The Olympic Committee gets boos for not inviting him but he gets boos for bitchin' 'bout it.
Since NBC wouldn't let me watch the video of the 4 x 100m without downloading some silly software - they get boos too!
Leezak was utterly amazing, and that was probably one of the most spectacular finishes I've seen in the Olympics.
I hope to hear more trash talking aimed at the Americans. Especially from the French. ;)
I saw this one last night. Impressive. Lezak's performance was especially astounding. Another race was decided by 7/100th of a second.
They smashed the WR by 4 secs.
This was a team effort. They all swam at WORLD RECORD pace.
Don't try to give any one member more credit than the other. They all did one hell of a job.
Boring!!!!!!!! Can we please get some sharks added to the event?
pershingwarrior @ 22:
Here's a dollar, so you can buy a clue!
Hopefully Phelps isn't using some kind of performance boosters and gets snagged.
Freedom Fries FTW!
Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 13:
I really doubt that any French people is losing any sleep over trying to earn the approval of the USA.
SickupandFed @ 21:
That would be socialist, and thus totally un-American...
It's certainly not unsportsmanlike. What do you think the All Blacks are doing when they do the Haka ? Or boxers when they look at each other with that look saying "I'm gonna kick your ass". The French (Bernard) just said "we're gonna smash the US team". I personnally, would hardly call that trash talk.
At least, that will teach Bernard not to "vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué". He'll remember those 0.08 seconds.
What are we FOX NEWS?
BEST RACE EVER?
BEST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY?
Steve-O @ 12:
Hmmm...what's worse? Trash talking or arrogant gloating?
Anyway, congrats USA!
Funny how so many right wingers think we don't love our country, I do, and even though the sports in and of themselves don't actually prove anything, I STILL WANT US TO WIN!!!!!
Tyler Durden @ 26:
well then, i guess its back to eating freedom fries
eff the frogs
Some U.S. residents don't like the french because the government tells them not to like the french. It was a good race so either drop the propaganda or send the Statue of Liberty packing.
From a female point of view, male swimmers have killer bodies. It's just a fact. Phelp's and his team are proof too.
Don't forget the strong role that Bush played in this victory. He watched, clapped and cheered. And that's about as big of a role as he's played in anything for the last eight years.
L.A. Confidential @ 24:
Phelps, and I believe 11 other Americans (including Tyson Gay and Dara Torres), have voluntary agreed to take part in extra drug testing. You can count on them being clean.
ronnyg @ 7:
RiNo @ 30:
trash talking
cuz we are supposed to be ugly americans
now the french swim team wont get any poon from any of the hotties on the beach volleyball team
and they are playing beach volleyball indoors...how wack is that
not that anyone cares...people only watch that sport to look at the women's butts and check out the dude's abs
and im still pissed that this is the last olympics for at least 8 years that will have baseball and softball
eff the ioc
Pete @ 29:
settle down and enjoy the moment for a change. its Olympic swimming.
tom @ 31:
Lot's of folks seem to confuse healthy competition with wanting to obliterate the enemy. In all honesty, I see it all the time around here - no respect for the opponent, anger over any loss, rage simmering just below the surface. What's happened to us?
For some reason my comment ended up in the middle of the quote of the comment so anyways Spitz was great but he didnt win all the races just the ones he entered.
pissed off patricia @ 34:
Fair enough. The gymasts of both genders are in pretty astounding shape as well. As I said to my wife regarding the tinyest American gymnast, "I bet if I kicked her ass, I'd break my foot."
But man, the goggles and head covers in swimming ain't too flattering; many of the men look like women and many non-Asians appear Asian.
ronnyg @ 36:
biggest hypocracy in sports is the drug testing
think the bigger countries dont already have an advantage with monies spent and training facilities?
think the chinese havent figured out ways to already mask doping?
or do you really believe that in such a short time they have managed to somehow compete and win in strength sports such as weightlifting
The world is going to hell in a handbasket and what do we get? More diversion with sports. Overrated, budget busting competition that does nothing but take our minds off what is really going on. Nice. And in China?
L.A. Confidential @ 24:
The U.S.A. may not have the fastest athletes, but certainly has the quickest, stealth chemists.
It'll be years before the IOC catches up with them.
Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 38:
Supposed to be ugly Americans???? No supposition there needed buddy...
Baseball is not a sport anyways...
Who cares! Why are you watching the olympics anyway? China is an opressive nation. Get your principles straight.
Wow greatest thing I have seen ever! Especially since the announcer said that he could not see the US winning, the French were so fast. The black dudes story is great too, he almost drowned as a kid. Only the 2nd black swimmer too! With 25 yards left the French had a body length lead, impossible to win, but.... holy cow! I jumped up from the couch and yelled myself, wow!!!! Just wow!!! wow!!!! .07 seconds wow!!!!!! the first 5 finishers all broke the world record. wow!!!! wow!!!!
Why not invite Spitz? it is done in every other sport. Why didn't Spitz just go? He is not a whiner, he is a champion.
Oz @ 47:
I'm with you, Oz.
Not even watching NBC... the CBC coverage is far superior.
ronnyg @ 42:
Track and field IMHO have the best bodies... I am of the opinion that female gymnasts look way too much like women in the early stages of their puberty. Not attractive at al...
This is a cultural difference between Europe and the US. Trash talking happens all the time over there. It's nothing personal. You should hang around Italians and French fans during the world cup. The trash talking is relentless. We get offended by it, but I don't think they thought it was anything special. They thought the trash would get inside the heads of the Americans. They were right, but not the way they expected. It was a great video. I enjoyed the over-analysis by the commentators. They gave the silver to the US before the race was even over.
Ego and selfish ambition are not things to be admired. Besides that, every single one of them is dirty, including the ones who don't get caught. No human being can run the 100 meters under 9.9 without steroids, and same is true of nearly every record in sports.
Just like home runs in baseball get attention while average hitters don't, gold medals don't sell product while world records do. And with times so low and distances so great, the only way to break records anymore is to cheat. Nobody would watch if there weren't any records broken, so the sham of "drug testing" continues to maintain the image of "integrity". The only people who get caught are token examples, not rare rulebreakers.
There hasn't been a "clean" olympics since....oooh, ever. About the only sport that doesn't have drug cheats is motor racing, and that's only because it doesn't help.
If you want to see real athletics, go watch a local track meet or swim meet at the pool. You'll be more entertained and the athletes will be cleaner. And they won't be any logo feces (to quote George Carlin) displayed everywhere and anywhere.
If Phelps sweeps the Olympics in swimming he will become a legend.
Oz @ 47:
The Olympics aren't about China they're about athletes from around the world coming together for friendly competition. This isn't politics.
But if you want politics - read Naomi Klein's The Olympics: Unveiling Police State 2.0.
surfjac @ 18:
You can opt out of downloading the Microsoft software.
I could have done without seeing flag waving George at 2:00 minutes into it.
I takes all four members of a relay team to win an event like this. No one person is responsible. They worked as a team, they won as a team and they should be recognized as the awesome team they are.
Does anybody else here think that if it weren't for the smack-talk of the French team, our guys might not have won? I mean, we'll never know for sure, but I just have a feeling. And it made the victory sooooooo much sweeter. I was jumping up and down in my cushy arm chair. The NYT reported that Bernard, the French anchor, broke down and cried (implied: like a little girl), but I never saw that. Anyway, I'll be sad when the swimming competition is over.
I must say, it's quite nourishing to come here and be reminded that I'm not the only person who has an opinion about bloody everything.
William @ 50:
I am watching them through the internet. NBC has improved a bit, other olympics have literally damaged my brain due to the brain-dead commentary and the inability of NBC to accept the fact that there are other sports and other countries other than America. This year does not seem as bad, at least they don't have a human "interest" story every 10 minutes. Ugh...
I love the olympics because I get to see some sports that are seldom broadcasted or have little exposure in this country.
I wish I could watch the clip, but my Mac OS is more than two years old, so I can't. NBC f*cks me over again.
Yeah, with all this Phelps praising Lezak and Cullen were the ones who brought this home for him. Lezak had the best split ever for this event.
Jess @ 57:
Please note a little bit of history: in 2000, Gary Hall, Jr. said the Americans would smash the Australian team "like guitars," and the Americans promptly lost. Yes, there are still many who don't get the concept of letting your performance do the talking.
Chopvac @ 53:
Actually there is tons of drug "enhancements" in motor racing, believe it or not... most racing forms involve a lot of endurance. There is plenty of drug testing in NASCAR and FIAA events...
Sorry. If I have to install Microsoft Whatever on my computer to watch, I'll pass.
ronnyg @ 62:
Please note a little bit of history: in 2000, Gary Hall, Jr. said the Americans would smash the Australian team "like guitars," and the Americans promptly lost. Yes, there are still many who don't get the concept of letting your performance do the talking.
I forgot about that! Now I remember the Australians doing their little victory dance, much like the U.S. guys did last night.
Has badminton always been an Olympic sport? And when did beach volley ball become an Olympic event? These two slipped up on me and for whatever reason I had not seen either in past Olympics.
bobsf @ 52:
Oh, right... there is no trash talking in American sports ever. Suuuuure.
Have you ever been in a room full of Red Sox and Yankee fans?
Trash talking and overanalyzing is a national pastime in the US, why the f*ck do you think there is like 8 ESPN channels?
You can watch the CBC's Olympic coverage here (they also have a live feed).
Unfortunately, I can't link to the actual race but if you type - 4x100m relay - in the search box, it will come up.
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/ondemand/
nbc's commentary has been awful, as has been noted. i don't think it can be repeated enough, however, just how awful it actually is.
i was watching some more of the swimming earlier this morning, including one qualifying race where an italian woman won and set a new record. whoever the moron was doing the commentary remarked several times that she shouldn't be swimming that fast, somehow it was wrong that she should swim as fast as she could because it was only a qualifying race. the american who came in at the middle of the pack was never named, never mentioned, as none of the others in the race were named or mentioned.
shortly after there was another qualifying race where the american came in first and we were treated to remarks about how impressive she was for swimming so fast and getting out ahead of the rest of the swimmers.
yeah, and then there was the remark about the trash-talking french, "of course."
it doesn't matter if it's swimming or volleyball, or any other sport nbc chooses to show at any particular time, there has been zero information about the sports, what competitors do to get there except to make laudatory remarks about one particular american athlete or another, zero information which would actually give the viewer any context.
in fact, when the italian set a record, i had the impression that it "didn't count" because of the way it was referenced by nbc's commentator, so it was confusing when the commentator made a big deal about the fact that the american who came in first in the subsquent qualifying race also set a record.
so which is it nbc, does it count or does it not? i sure wouldn't know, and don't know, from watching your totally ineffective (unless your goal is to annoy the bejesus out of people) coverage.
pissed off patricia @ 66:
Badminton has never been any kind of sport; it's just too goofy. And beach volleyball is in it's second or third go-around.
Next up are bobbing for apples, whistling and spray cheese sculpture.
pissed off patricia @ 66:
Badminton is there to increase Asian interest on the Olympics.
I have no clue what beach v-ball is doing in the olympics, either someone sleep with someone at the IOC... or they needed something that is "tv advertisement friendly."
snore........
Fuck China
Fuck this Nationalist Dick-waving
Free Tibet
Fuck China
Fuck this Nationalist Dick-waving
Free Tibet
as a matter of fact, if i didn't know better, i would think that michael phelps is the only american at the olympics.
And now ...Back to World War 3....
Tyler Durden @ 71:
ronnyg @ 70:
This year they had the badminton competition. I saw about three minutes of it, but it was there.
Beach volleyball was in the last Olympics. Not sure about 8 years ago. It's a great sport and there are competitive teams from around the world.
Never been a swimming fan but Phelps is incredible and that relay victory was one of the greatest sporting events of Olympic history.
Chopvac @ 53:
Every record in sports? That's laughable. You must have a helluva tinfoil hat.
The US female beach volley ball team provided some eye candy for bush. Okay, he looked like a sweaty pig but he got to play with them and see the one team member's tattoo on her lower back. According to tv, he touched the tattoo for good luck for the team.
I actually got up at 5 this morning to watch the race live here in Paris. I used to swim competitively, and I always loved to swim and to watch relays. Jason Lezac's anchor leg is unique in my memory of, oh, let's say 48 years of watching the Olympics, and it is just as startling to me every time I've seen it replayed throughout this day. It isn't as if Lezac made his half second deficit gradually over his 100 meters. At the turn he was as far behind as at his start, maybe even a little farther. At the turn, the French announcer said, "There's no way France will not be the Olympic champion today." With 25 meters to go, he was still more than a shoulder behind. And then, it was if he jumped. Or I dunno how to describe it. But, all of a sudden, in two strokes he caught Alain Bernard. The French woman color commentator gasped out an involuntary "Allez" to the French swimmer, because she saw first what had happened. The official line is that the more experienced Lezac out-touched Bernard, and that's true too. But it wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't somehow managed that sudden, improbable spurt. An extraordinary and, in its own way, transcendent action.
richard @ 79:
GO USA!
Wow, I haven't said that since Nov 2000, maybe.
That was a thrilling relay! For the uninitiated, swim relays are wack. Everyone on the team gets on his or her toes and screams. It's a four minute (or 3:08:24 in the case of our 4x100 team) frenzy. As a swimmer on the block, you've got teammates screaming at you from all over an echoing building; there are competitors to your right and left; your teammate is steaming down the lane to the wall, at whose touch you've got to fly off, and gallons of adrenaline are flowing into your veins. All of this makes trying to concentrate - so that you don't false start and DQ your whole team - extremely difficult. Great race... brought me back.
I just wish it wasn't ALL Michael Phelps, ALL THE TIME. This guy's phenomenal. He doesn't need to be hyped. NPR's headline this morning was typical: "Teamwork keeps Phelps on Track for Eight Golds." I think it was the Times whose headline was "Phelps Wins Second Gold Medal... With Help". ...PATHETIC.
Is it only about Phelps fer crissakes? There may be - in fact surely will be - other stunning performances in other sports such as epee, judo, field hockey... whatever, that we'll never hear about or see because one or two marketing darlings will be accorded all the spotlight. It's a shame.
In short, yeah, NBC's Olympic coverage sucks, but so does the NYT's, NPR's, etc. Watching/listening/reading US media, you'd barely know there were other US olympians besides Micheal Phelps competing, let alone other countries...
Look, I understand that China shouldn't receive any glory, all things considered, and I do agree that Bush shouldn't have gone there. But damn, this is about human triumph. While there will be unfortunate doping incidents, the work these athletes have done is still remarkable. It is marvelous.
baby jesus was there, however
baby jesus did not intervene in any way, it was all talent
I've seen this movie a thousand times: the scrappy downtrodden group from Camp X or Fraternity Y or City Z competes against those Snooty, Privileged, Trash-Talking bastards from across the lake/other side of campus/neighboring county and WINS!!! Yeah! That'll show 'em!
Except this time, we get to gloat w/ a Patriotic overtone, which is just all the more thrilling! Who says the Olympics are above politics? They're all _about_ politics! The politics of AMERICANS KICKING ASS!!!
re "NBC sucks" - how many of you wish the opening ceremony had had the US announcers on a different channel that could be silenced? btw, the NBC Olympics Video will not work on Linux. so happy corporations don't run our country.
pissed off patricia:
...and cured her of scrofula?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
pythagoras @ 88:
Where have you been lately?
CBC feeds are blocked in my area, but thanks anyway. Santa Cruz, CA, USA. BBC too, and all torrents. How did they do that. NBC must be God....? Nawww!!!!
Surging Blue Lensman @ 80:
That's not much of an insult coming from a wilfully ignorant jingoist like yourself.
You display all the character of the 1972 olympic basketball team. And the 2004 team, for that matter.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn!
Someone wake me when this useless whorefest is over.
Check out the French headline - "incroyable"
DKarma @ 17:
No, the greatest comeback swim of all time was Keiran Perkins in the 1500m in Atlanta. And I don't think disparaging the French for trash-talk is a good idea coming from an American.
I have watched them all since 72...this was the best ever. What was special was seeing the French deadpan expressions after realizing they got beat.