2012 Olympics: Swimming

sports.yahoo.com/.../olympics--usa-s-risky-men-s-freestyle-relay-plan-backfires-in-an-ironic-twist-.html Lochte did, in fact, die. He had no energy to bring the race home. This was a tactical failure on his part, but it was brought on by the larger failure of his coach, Gregg Troy, who is also the head American men's coach. Lochte was too amped for his anchor leg, taking it out too quickly. An explosive underwater start sapped his energy. His turnover was too fast. Not a natural sprinter, he immediately engaged in a dead sprint. "I overswam the first 50," he said, "which hurt me in the last 50." Said Troy: "I knew on the first 25 he was in trouble." This was trouble of Troy's making. Lochte was a bit of a surprise inclusion on the relay, since he rarely swims the 100 free. And he was definitely a surprise choice to anchor -- he'd never anchored a 400 freestyle relay in a major national or international event. "Kind of a coaching error," Troy acknowledged. But later, when I asked if in hindsight he would have taken Lochte out of the anchor role, he said, "No, I think we probably would've swam the same relay." Another ancient Greek concept comes to mind here: hubris. Troy surprisingly put Lochte in a high-risk, high-reward position that was never a natural fit. That excessive pride in his personal star swimmer gave Lochte a chance to play the hero -- but also the chance to be the guy who blew the race. In reality, the race was taken from Lochte more than he gave it away, but the fact remains that he had a significant lead in the final leg and got smoked. With a different anchor -- a more seasoned 100-meter swimmer -- the result may have been a rousing triumph. "He didn't have much experience there," Troy said. "I just wish he could have swam a little bit smarter race."

sports.yahoo.com/.../olympics--usa-s-risky-men-s-freestyle-relay-plan-backfires-in-an-ironic-twist-.html Lochte did, in fact, die. He had no energy to bring the race home. This was a tactical failure on his part, but it was brought on by the larger failure of his coach, Gregg Troy, who is also the head American men's coach. Lochte was too amped for his anchor leg, taking it out too quickly. An explosive underwater start sapped his energy. His turnover was too fast. Not a natural sprinter, he immediately engaged in a dead sprint. "I overswam the first 50," he said, "which hurt me in the last 50." Said Troy: "I knew on the first 25 he was in trouble." This was trouble of Troy's making. Lochte was a bit of a surprise inclusion on the relay, since he rarely swims the 100 free. And he was definitely a surprise choice to anchor -- he'd never anchored a 400 freestyle relay in a major national or international event. "Kind of a coaching error," Troy acknowledged. But later, when I asked if in hindsight he would have taken Lochte out of the anchor role, he said, "No, I think we probably would've swam the same relay." Another ancient Greek concept comes to mind here: hubris. Troy surprisingly put Lochte in a high-risk, high-reward position that was never a natural fit. That excessive pride in his personal star swimmer gave Lochte a chance to play the hero -- but also the chance to be the guy who blew the race. In reality, the race was taken from Lochte more than he gave it away, but the fact remains that he had a significant lead in the final leg and got smoked. With a different anchor -- a more seasoned 100-meter swimmer -- the result may have been a rousing triumph. "He didn't have much experience there," Troy said. "I just wish he could have swam a little bit smarter race."