Picking an athlete as one of my favorite things probably seems weird to anyone who knows me, even remotely, because I am probably the least athletic person in the world. I regularly trip over my own feet, bang my shins and give myself concussions. As a kid, I was always the last person picked for any sport because I was likely to injure not only myself, but anyone around me. (Boy, I sound an awful lot like Bella. Unfortunately, I never had a hot shapeshifter/werewolf and an even hotter vampire fighting over me.) Back to the point - while I am a horrible athlete, the one thing I was good at growing up was swimming. I spent most of my childhood in the water and took competitive swim for 8 years. I never mastered the butterfly (I looked like a fish flopping out of water) because it involved way too much coordination, but I was always one of the best at the breast stroke and back stroke. If my school had a swim team and if I wasn't as lazy as I am, I could have been pretty good. I have a great deal of respect and awe for Olympic swimmers, especially Michael Phelps.
His record breaking ability is amazing.
I remember 2000 when he made the US Olympic team at the age of 15 for the 200m fly and came in 5th overall, which is a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a kid who had only been swimming 8 years compared to the decades some of his competitors swam. Just 5 months later, he became the youngest swimmer ever to hold a world record, again in his specialty the 200m fly.
Fast forward to 2004 and his 6 gold medals and 2 bronze which tied him for the most Olympic medals of one type in one Olympics. He raced in 8 events, and was on track to match Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in one Olympics when he was beaten by two other swimming greats, Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo) and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband. Then the 4*100 freestyle team took bronze and the 4*100 medley team was disqualified due to a false start.
Fast forward again to 2008 where he becomes the greatest Olympic Athlete ever by holding 11 Gold medals (with 3 races still to go). He is once again on track to beat Spitz's record of 7 Golds in one game.
He is built for swimming
Like most good swimmers, he is tall (6'7") but what is even more impressive is that his arm reach is three inches longer than his height, which helps him pull through the water and also gives him the advantage of being able to touch the wall that much sooner. It also helps that his size 14 feet act as flippers...
I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his remaining three events (100m fly, 200m IM, and 4*100 medley) Hopefully he can fend of his main competition (Ian Crocker, Ryan Lochte, and the Australian team) and get the 8 golds he needs to beat out Spitz's record.
His record breaking ability is amazing.
I remember 2000 when he made the US Olympic team at the age of 15 for the 200m fly and came in 5th overall, which is a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a kid who had only been swimming 8 years compared to the decades some of his competitors swam. Just 5 months later, he became the youngest swimmer ever to hold a world record, again in his specialty the 200m fly.
Fast forward to 2004 and his 6 gold medals and 2 bronze which tied him for the most Olympic medals of one type in one Olympics. He raced in 8 events, and was on track to match Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in one Olympics when he was beaten by two other swimming greats, Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo) and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband. Then the 4*100 freestyle team took bronze and the 4*100 medley team was disqualified due to a false start.
Fast forward again to 2008 where he becomes the greatest Olympic Athlete ever by holding 11 Gold medals (with 3 races still to go). He is once again on track to beat Spitz's record of 7 Golds in one game.
He is built for swimming
Like most good swimmers, he is tall (6'7") but what is even more impressive is that his arm reach is three inches longer than his height, which helps him pull through the water and also gives him the advantage of being able to touch the wall that much sooner. It also helps that his size 14 feet act as flippers...
I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his remaining three events (100m fly, 200m IM, and 4*100 medley) Hopefully he can fend of his main competition (Ian Crocker, Ryan Lochte, and the Australian team) and get the 8 golds he needs to beat out Spitz's record.
1 comment:
He eats an amazing amount of food a day- 12,000 calories. Check out this article from the NY Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132008/news/nationalnews/phelps_pig_secret__hes_boy_gorge_124248.htm
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