Example: Two nights ago I watched Michael Phelps, Aaron Piersol, and Natalie Coughlin win back-to-back-to-back gold medals for the USA with each one of them not only breaking, but smashing the previous world record.
Example 2: Michael Phelps has won 5 gold medals and in each of those gold medal races he has absolutely smashed the previous world record. Let me say that again because it really is a phenomenal performance - 5 gold medals, 5 world records.
Granted, using Phelps as an example is probably not the best way to plead my case since the conspicuous absence of his father in the stands leads me to believe he must be a porpoise and can't handle the Beijing smog, but world records have been dropping in the "Water Cube" at an alarming rate this past week. It seems like every race - prelim, final, whatever - sees another record fall. Is it their fancy swimsuits? Can one pool or water be "faster" than another? Are they lathering up with Crisco? Track is a different animal. With the exception of the 100m, records typically stay in place for years. This is more along the lines of what you'd expect - once a generation a freak comes along and eclipses the old. Then those records hold until the next freak (Usain Bolt) arrives.
I can only arrive at three guesses...
- We're witnessing the greatest crop of swimmers in the history of the sport.
- Advances in the sport are just starting to make an impact (Hey, Mark Spitz's mustache had to have cost him at least a second from drag, right?)
- Swimmers are the best athletes in the world at masking doping.
2 comments:
Agree 100%. I watch the world records fall and just can't understand it. Aside from Phelps, who is hands down the best swimmer ever, I think it's the technology. Those suits must make a pretty big difference.
it's also the depth of the pool. the pool in the 'cube is deeper than standard olympic pools, thus less wake and faster times.
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