Ian Thorpe wins the 200 free. Hoogie, the flying dutchmen, is second and Phelps is a close third in a new American record. Keller is fourth just ahead of Grant Hackett.
First, congratulations to Ian Thorpe. Many questioned whether he was ready to win this race, including moi. My hats off to the Australian great for showing up in very big race.
Second, Hoogie swam well. If he had better turns then he'd be champion. He should be considered the favorite in the 100.
Third, caps off to Phelps. Yes, this is the "deflationary" moment dreaded by all who saw Biondi branded a "failure" when his Spitzian quest was made mathematically impossible.
I now think that things will really turn around for the US at this meet. Peirsol has just won the 100 back and I believe tomorrow will be big day for the USA.
I see an upset and new world record in the 800 free relay as a real possiblity. I also think that Phelps will lower his world record in the 200 fly tomorrow.
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Former Member
Originally posted by Bob McAdams
Just for the record:
Spitz did not win his record number of gold medals the first time he went to the Olympics. And, as I remember, he got into a little trouble at his first Olympics because he had truthfully answered the press's questions about how many medals he hoped to win, so every time he didn't win one of them, the press made it out to be a failure.
Quite correct and that is the most relevant comparisons in terms of Olympic peformance. So we'll have to wait until 2008 to see if Phelps quest to top Spitz in one-time Olympic performance is a goal.
However, the real measure of Spitz greatness is how he redefined speed in the fly. He was so far ahead of the competition in that event. I remember as a high school swimmer how we believed that fly would eventually become faster than crawl based on extrapolation from Spitz's performances in the lat 1960s.
On that score Phelps is almost there. He has redefined the 200 im standard and this is the one event where he dominates the competition in a Spitz-like fashion. This is his signature event. His margin of victory in the 400 im is less, relatively speaking, but he still gaps the field--(perhaps over time he'll develop his breaststroke to eventually split a sub 1:10 and achieve a Spitz-like gap on the field).
I also think it's likely that Phelps could focus on middle distance freestyle and ultimately break Thorpe's world records before the 2008 Olympic games. Having the current world records in six individual events (200/400 free; 100/200 fly and 200/400 im) would be a truly incredible accomplishment.
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Former Member
Originally posted by Bob McAdams
Just for the record:
Spitz did not win his record number of gold medals the first time he went to the Olympics. And, as I remember, he got into a little trouble at his first Olympics because he had truthfully answered the press's questions about how many medals he hoped to win, so every time he didn't win one of them, the press made it out to be a failure.
Quite correct and that is the most relevant comparisons in terms of Olympic peformance. So we'll have to wait until 2008 to see if Phelps quest to top Spitz in one-time Olympic performance is a goal.
However, the real measure of Spitz greatness is how he redefined speed in the fly. He was so far ahead of the competition in that event. I remember as a high school swimmer how we believed that fly would eventually become faster than crawl based on extrapolation from Spitz's performances in the lat 1960s.
On that score Phelps is almost there. He has redefined the 200 im standard and this is the one event where he dominates the competition in a Spitz-like fashion. This is his signature event. His margin of victory in the 400 im is less, relatively speaking, but he still gaps the field--(perhaps over time he'll develop his breaststroke to eventually split a sub 1:10 and achieve a Spitz-like gap on the field).
I also think it's likely that Phelps could focus on middle distance freestyle and ultimately break Thorpe's world records before the 2008 Olympic games. Having the current world records in six individual events (200/400 free; 100/200 fly and 200/400 im) would be a truly incredible accomplishment.
