In swimming, the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay is the ultimate fist on the table mark of a team’s strength. In dual and many championship meets it is usually the final and most exciting race where top teams prove why they deserve to be called the best.
This is no different for the Olympics. The Freestyle relay is usually an event that is swarming with press before the Olympics even begins. In 2000, it was the US that was on the receiving end of the beating, when the very strong Australian team took the gold and the pride. Leading up to the race Gary Hall Jr. (American Sprinter) said in an interview that the U.S. would smash the Aussie’s like a guitar after a concert. Well, a whole nation had to watch as the “Thorpedo” played air guitar behind his victorious lane.
Fast forward 8 years. This year was 2x as hard. The Aussie’s were back with a very strong team, including Ed Sullivan, a man who had destroyed his own LCM 50 Free record twice this year. And the French had not one but two of the giants that had finally broken the elusive 19 barrier in the 50 yard Free. The race was billed as a France victory from jump. No question.
However, this year it was the U.S. that would bring home the hardware, and not because of the phenome Phelps, but our anchor man, Jason Lezak. This guy swam out of his skull! He had what would normally be a insurmountable gap to make up and shockingly in the final 25 meters he out swam arguably the fastest man on the planet. And the U.S. won by the most classic of sport clichés, the photo finish.
If you didn’t have chicken skin by the finish, no matter American or not, you don’t have a pulse!
Incredible!
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2 comments:
Good first post and it definitely was a Great race!
I have to agree with every thing you said Jess, I remember when Ian Thorp got to play that dam guitar, it was rough!
I will never forget those boys on the blocks this year! It was amazing!
Good Blog too! I dig the topics :)
Mikel
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