2012 Olympics: Swimming

I'm also mad at NBC for no mention of Alexander Dale Oen on their prime time show. I watched the live stream of those finals, which included commentary from two non-NBC folks. I don't know who they were, but they were pretty good. They talked about Alexander Dale Oen quite a bit. I thought that was cool.

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."

Whomever the anchor was slated to be (on the mens 4 x 100), they were either destined for greatness or a lesson in humility. Phelps would have suffered another blow to his ego if went last and the same thing happened to him as did Lochte. As it is, he's shown that he's human and he's got people gunning for him in both the 100 and 200 flys. The coach perhaps wanted to save him from being in that position of bearing the burden of defeat. Hooray for Brendan Hansen by the way. Walks away from his career with a medal and a victory over his old nemesis! I liked it when he said it'll be the shiniest bronze medal you've ever seen.

Phelps as anchor? Going into the relay, all you knew is that he died in the 400 IM and swam slower than he did at Trials, and you're going to have him anchor? I'm glad Phelps split well, but that's pure hindsight. Don't sell Agnel's split too short, a 46.9 in jammers isn't all that much slower than Lezak's split in a full-body cheating suit. It was a risky move that backfired, complicated by the fact that Troy is the head US coach. Hindsight is wonderful, but everyone here acting like they know so much more than some of the best coaches in the world is just plain ridiculous, and a little sad. All we need is some belching and beer to complete the picture. Having Grevers on the relay would almost certainly not made any difference. On paper the Australians should have crushed everybody, but relays have their own magic. Sheesh, the French swam a great relay -- and so did the US by the way -- time to give them credit rather than just bash a coaching decision. :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:

Phelps as anchor? Going into the relay, all you knew is that he died in the 400 IM and swam slower than he did at Trials, and you're going to have him anchor? I'm glad Phelps split well, but that's pure hindsight. Don't sell Agnel's split too short, a 46.9 in jammers isn't all that much slower than Lezak's split in a full-body cheating suit. It was a risky move that backfired, complicated by the fact that Troy is the head US coach. Hindsight is wonderful, but everyone here acting like they know so much more than some of the best coaches in the world is just plain ridiculous, and a little sad. All we need is some belching and beer to complete the picture. Having Grevers on the relay would almost certainly not made any difference. On paper the Australians should have crushed everybody, but relays have their own magic. Sheesh, the French swam a great relay -- and so did the US by the way -- time to give them credit rather than just bash a coaching decision. +1

does anyone else feel like these olympics - mens swimming mostly - is a bit "empty"? I just don't feel the excitement like i did in 2008. there is no visible celebrating, visible teammies cheering, teammies hugging, etc. it just seems like a big let down. no - i'm not ripping on our guys because i know i can't do better, i'm just saying it doesn't seem as energetic as the last one. aside from lochte and most likely greevers tonight getting golds, it seems like we are the bronze medal team to beat (wish i could win one).

Cute parody of the USA team's music video: "Call Me Maybe" Phelps Lochte Music Parody - Invade London - YouTube

I'm also mad at NBC for no mention of Alexander Dale Oen on their prime time show.

Very entertaining 4x100 Men's Relay. It's easy to second guess the decision to go with Lochte over Grevers. I don't know exactly how much time Grevers would have had between his 100 back semi and the relay (the coaches certainly knew). I would say, though, that Grevers has been on fire and he was 3rd at O Trials in the 100 free. How many times in the past has the 3rd guy not made it on the final relay even after posting the fastest prelim split? I think he earned a spot on the finals relay. I sure would have liked to see him on the anchor, if for no other reason than a little intimidation factor. The guy is a beast! Kudo's to the decision of leading with Adrian and Phelps. I loved getting them out to a big lead like that!

... I don't know exactly how much time Grevers would have had between his 100 back semi and the relay (the coaches certainly knew).... The first 100 backstroke semifinal was scheduled to start at 20:28 and the 4x100m free relay was scheduled for 21:00. Grevers was in the second semifinal so he would have had less than 30 minutes to recover.