by Eric Martin
My mother commenting on the speed of Michael Phelps in the water:
He wouldn't need a pole to fish.
No, I don't suppose he would. Just drop him in a lake, and its walleye for all on short order.
Although I generally bristle at the type of hyperbole that seeks to inflate the importance of the present moment (where "this" is always a world historic event), I think it's within reason to argue that Phelps is the greatest competitive swimmer ever. Amazing to watch regardless.
Antisemite. Spitz did it with a pornstache.
Posted by: SomeCallMeTim | August 13, 2008 at 01:26 PM
no doubt about Phelps.
but there's something going on at that pool that seems remarkable, too: nearly every race they show ends in a world record, even the preliminaries, often the old record is broken by two or three people.
was there some amazing breakthrough in swimming technique in the past year or so ?
Posted by: cleek | August 13, 2008 at 01:28 PM
It's not fair how they let him use that speed boat motor when everyone else has to swim.
Wait, what? You say he's not using a motor?
Whoa.
Posted by: Ugh | August 13, 2008 at 01:28 PM
was there some amazing breakthrough in swimming technique in the past year or so ?
NYTimes article on just that issue.
Posted by: Ugh | August 13, 2008 at 01:32 PM
was there some amazing breakthrough in swimming technique in the past year or so
Yeah, there was this.
Posted by: Eric Martin | August 13, 2008 at 01:38 PM
Um, Ugh's link is much better.
One thing I would say about this:
While the record times might be attributable to the suits and pool design, all competitors are taking advantage of the same pool design - and most have the new suit.
So Phelps' dominance vis-a-vis the competition is still as noteworthy.
Posted by: Eric Martin | August 13, 2008 at 01:43 PM
"was there some amazing breakthrough in swimming technique in the past year or so ?"
It is probably the suit combined with technique. But Phelps is also known for having much better technique on the butterfly, which everyone is now emulating.
Posted by: Sebastian | August 13, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Echo and the Bunnymen! Frist!
What do I win?
Posted by: David | August 13, 2008 at 02:33 PM
Recognizing athletic achievement is great, but cheering Phelps for anything more is unwarranted. I mean, he lives the life of a hampster.
Posted by: Porcupine_Pal | August 13, 2008 at 02:36 PM
Hopefully he is not related to Fred "God hates fags" Phelps.
Let's wait for the doping test results (yes, I am a cycnic).
Posted by: Hartmut | August 13, 2008 at 02:47 PM
What do I win?
My sincere and hearty admiration...
Posted by: Eric Martin | August 13, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Posted by: David | August 13, 2008 at 03:32 PM
Here's the thing about the suits: they've been around for more than a few months, now. In the two weeks following the launch of the LZR Racer, WRs started dropping like flies. Something like 13 in a couple of weeks. In the March European Championships, 8 records dropped in one week.
Everyone's got them, or could have them if they wanted them. They're kind of pricey, though. TYR makes a competing product that's somewhat less popular.
It could be we're just starting to see what's possible. People who have been training with their sights set on the Olympics probably wouldn't bother to taper for any other events; Michael Phelps for one. So the people who are the fastest in the world are, if everything has gone well, training-wise, just now hitting their peak performance.
Also, they didn't help Jason Lezak chase down Alain Bernard, because Bernard was also wearing one.
Phelps is in a class by himself. The man swam a WR 200 fly with his goggles full of water. He swam WRs in the 200 free and 400 IM looking like he had gas in the tank, at the end. I'd thought he looked annoyed at the end of the 200 fly because he was beginning to feel the strain of swimming that many events. Silly me.
I objected to his being shown as having the most gold medals at 10, though, being of the persuasion that Ray Ewry's 10 were all valid, even if the IOC disagrees. But then Phelps got number 11 a few minutes later, and it all became moot.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 13, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Also, they didn't help Jason Lezak chase down Alain Bernard, because Bernard was also wearing one.
I saw one event (400 m crawl, I believe) where everyone but the Korean was in a bodysuit. The Korean had just regular trunks. Guess who won!
Yay! You get a cookie!
Posted by: Jeff | August 13, 2008 at 04:05 PM
i'd heard about the suits, but i didn't realize they made that much of a difference.
and those Chinese girls still aren't 16.
Posted by: cleek | August 13, 2008 at 04:07 PM
I'd thought he looked annoyed at the end of the 200 fly because he was beginning to feel the strain of swimming that many events. Silly me.
That's pretty much what I thought - that he was tired from swimming all of the events. Turns out his goggles were full and he didn't swim the time he wanted.
and those Chinese girls still aren't 16.
Absolutely not. But if the state is going to join in the cheating, there's little that can be done in a realtime basis. See Germany, East.
Posted by: Ugh | August 13, 2008 at 04:17 PM
and those Chinese girls still aren't 16
You know I'm a lawyer if you need me...
Posted by: Eric Martin | August 13, 2008 at 05:11 PM
Legend has it that some abandoned babies in China were assigned a birthdate at time of discovery that was exactly six months prior to the day they were found. There was, legend has it, a Chinese law that no child under the age of six months was eligible for adoption.
All of their documentation was perfectly consistent, needless to say.
I have no idea whether any of the above is true, but it was widely discussed on Chinese adoption boards within the last ten years; treat it as an unconfirmed anecdote.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 13, 2008 at 05:22 PM
NYT:
in a speech on Nov. 3, 2007, in the central city of Wuhan, Liu Peng, director of general administration of sport for China, said: "The 13-year-old uneven-bar gymnast He Kexin, who defeated national team athlete Yang Yilin — she just won the bronze medal in the world championships — has demonstrated her ability."
Posted by: cleek | August 13, 2008 at 05:29 PM
I think that given that all of this was known a few days ago, at latest, we can assume that the IOC and whatever international gymnastic body has sway have both decided to look the other way.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 13, 2008 at 05:37 PM
Of course Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever. 11 Gold medals don't lie.
About the suit, I liked the quote from one of the competitors: "the suit doesn't get up at 5:30 in the morning." Besides, as others have noted, basically everyone is using it so it doesn't confer an advantage. The previous world record holders might have a beef.
Finally, if the US, Russia, or Romania left a 14 or 15 year old gymnast off their team to comply with the rules and China didn't, that would be really lame. However, if you had been training for years and then the rules changed in a way that would exclude you from competing in an Olympics in your home country, you might just fudge that rule. No, they aren't all 16, but did that give China an advantage? I just can't get worked up about it if all the best gymnasts in the world are competing. They could end this issue if they added rings as a 5th rotation. Those male gymnasts are stacked! (yum!)
Posted by: nicestrategy | August 13, 2008 at 06:38 PM
One of the great joys about watching Phelps -- and his teammates, for that matter -- is seeing the pure joy resonate on their faces. They seem like "regular" guys, having fun.
On the other hand -- and I am clueless as to how they score these girls -- but the gymnasts, Chinese or American, seem to perform in terror. They all need many, many hugs.
Posted by: bedtimeforbonzo | August 13, 2008 at 06:59 PM
and I am clueless as to how they score these girls
Slate article on the scoring system.
Posted by: Ugh | August 13, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Given that the Japanese were able to renege on their sponsor contracts with Japanese swimsuit makers, I think the special sauce in the suits is a given.
Posted by: liberal japonicus | August 13, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Thanks, Ugh.
Bring back the "perfect 10."
Posted by: bedtimeforbonzo | August 13, 2008 at 08:22 PM
I've never wanted to score girls that age, honestly. Not even when I was that age.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 13, 2008 at 08:32 PM
Who has Michael Phelps endorsed for president?
After Gold Medal No. 7 last night, there is no doubt - this guy really does have the Magic Touch.
Posted by: bedtimeforbonzo | August 16, 2008 at 09:26 AM
In general, swimming speeds have been trending down for years. It's not just new suits.
It's better technique, better pools (wave gutters, moving to six swimmers per heat from 8 -- all reduce resistance to the swimmers) and more reliable touch scoring systems all help.
Posted by: Morat20 | August 16, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Non-Phelps Alert:
The 41-year-old mom, Dana Torres, goes for the gold tonight.
Posted by: bedtimeforbonzo | August 16, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Um...not in any race I've seen lately. The pools, on the other hand, have gotten wider. Maybe wide enough to accommodate as many as 10 practice lanes. Search around at swiminfo.com if you like; I've yet to see a semifinal heat with less than eight swimmers. There might be some prelim heats with six, just because the total number of swimmers is unlikely to be divisible by eight; but they are practically guaranteed to be in semis and finals.
Speaking of which, Torres asked one of the officials to hold up the race because Alzhammer tore her suit, and then asked the other swimmers to stand down and give her some time. That's sportsmanship, encapsulated. Alzhammer failed to qualify, probably because of interruption disturbed her concentration, but still: she had the chance, at least.
But yes, the pool in the Olympics complex is just about as fast as any other place in the world. Three meters deep, wide, and excellent guttering.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 16, 2008 at 01:39 PM
@Slarti:
I can see the point of wide, wide pools, leaving a lane free on each side to minimize wave action -- and that has to be part of the lower times across the boards in Beijing.
But it seems like something that would make it hard to compare times with equivalent competitions in other venues. Is there a case for having a standard size pool for Olympic and/or international competition? And if there is, who's making it?
Posted by: Nell | August 16, 2008 at 01:47 PM
Now, if they could just swim downhill. Both ways.
Unbelievable 100 fly race. That's the second time I was sure Phelps would finish second 90% of the way through the race (the other time being by the 4x100 free relay). Real time if looked like he was a good half an arm behind.
Posted by: Ugh | August 16, 2008 at 01:57 PM