I can understand non-swimmers calling the Men's 400 Free Relay the "best swimming relay ever", but I even hear many long time swimmers calling it that too. I'm not saying it isn't (especially in the context of being part of Phelps' 8 gold's quest), but there are others to consider.
Does anyone remember the 1984 Olympic Men's 800 Free Relay in Los Angeles, in particular the anchor leg of USA's Bruce Hayes versus West Germany's Michael Gross? Gross was the 200 LCM Free WR holder, winning the 200 by 1.7 seconds and highly considered not just unbeatable, but untouchable (West Germany also had the 200 Free 3rd place finisher on their relay). Gross was a touch behind Hayes at the start, but quickly made up the difference, with Hayes fading even more. Some how, some way, with the same inner resolve that Lezak displayed, he came back and overtook Gross for a win by .04. I found several references to the final times on the internet, I wish I could find the splits from that race. Here's one result I found: www.databaseolympics.com/.../gamessport.htm
It's easy to say the current relay was a better win, but I think a lot of that is just because it's so fresh in our minds. And I still might pick the current relay as the best myself, but considering that 800 Free Relay, it's not the obvious hands down choice that people make it out to be.
Just my opinions, just my thought. Either way, the USA won them both, and I couldn't be happier!
Joe (joemagiera at ameritech dot net)
joemagiera@ameritech.net
