WOW!!! what a performance by south africa. COMPLETELY dominant from start to finish.
Our relay team was a CROCKer that croaked. 
Did anyone see an interview of him? I mean, he gave up about 2 seconds, which is HUGE, HUGE, HUGE in that race.
But, props to the S. Africans. They swam perfectly. The French did well too, I’m pleased to say.
-Robert
Ow!! They put the smackdown on the U.S. and Aussie men, fer shure. My guess is those two teams got so wrapped up in their own rivalry that they completely forgot about anybody else’s teams.
This is probably the best thing that could’ve happen to both squads. Now maybe the tone will dampen down a little so that the focus can go back on the individual athlete and what he or she is trying to accomplish.
Kahuna
i also question the decision to put phelps in ahead of gary hall…
Yah…that one smelled. Phelps in only 19, and he’s got at least one more quality Olympics ahead of him. That wasn’t fair to Hall. And Crocker really cost them whatever chance they had to stay up with a clearly-superior S. African relay squad.
This reminds me of the time that the U.S. women’s 4x100 relay team beat the then-dominant E. German women’s squad (and set a world record while doing it) at the '76 Olympics. The E. German women were clearly the class of the field and got spanked badly.
“On any given day…”
Kahuna
2 of the SA swimmers are at least 3 years removed from college. Ryk was working two jobs either last year or the year before.
I think that the US is reaping the rewards of adding the 4 x 50 free relays to high school and college swimming about ten years ago. Before then, for at least 35 years, just about every college and high school meet ended with the 4 x 100 free relay. While scoring has been fairly variable over the years, there have been plenty of times that more than one relay per team could score. As a result, everyone, regardless of whether their best event was the 50 or the 1650, was expected to swim on the 4 x 100 free relay. Lots of good 100 freestylers as a result. Now, teams have to choose between placing a good swimmer on the 4 x 50 or 4 x 100 relay. Although the SA anchor was a distance “specialist”, I bet he swam on lots of 4 x 100 relays in college, which could not have hurt him here.
CBC quoted Ryk as sayin gthat he had to pack on some muscle for the 100. WOnder if it will effect his 1500?
is he swimming the 1500? a dude who can swim both an excellant 1500 and a sub 48 100 free is pretty fucking good if u ask me
Was the decision to do that influenced in any way by trying to give him the opportunity to break Spitz’s record? Seems that way to me. I would be extremely dark if I was a relay swimmer pushed aside for a golden child when you’d done the hard work and earnt your spot.
Absolutely brilliant!!
I’m obviously biased being a South African but that was an awesome effort and a WR on top!!!
Plus for those that care - we beat the All Blacks 40-26 in a Tri-Nations rugby test match.
Good weekend for us down here on the tip of Africa.
Ow!! They put the smackdown on the U.S. and Aussie men, fer shure. My guess is those two teams got so wrapped up in their own rivalry that they completely forgot about anybody else’s teams.
This is probably the best thing that could’ve happen to both squads. Now maybe the tone will dampen down a little so that the focus can go back on the individual athlete and what he or she is trying to accomplish.
Kahuna
Don’t know about you guys over there, but here in Aust, the Aussie side was not expected to do that well anyway. So there was no “smackdown on the Aussie side”
Doesn’t SA always beat the All Blacks?
except Phelps wasn’t the one that hurt them
.
Crocker was the only swimmer of the 32 in the race that had a split of over :50, Hall v Phelps did not matter 1 iota after that.
Vince
If Hall had swum instead of Crocker, it might have made a difference, but then it’s Gary Hall’s fault for not getting second at the trials.
crocker was a bit sick coming into it. no excuses, but phelps did not add anything really to the comeback there. i was wicked impressed by walker and lezak- they ate up a lot of time.
i really hope crocker feels better for the medley relay and his 100 fly
stickin up for a fellow mainer,
darrell
Yeah, I’m sure there was a good reason for the sub-par performance. The coach made a bone-headed move though putting Phelps in there and pulling Hall. Hall swam well in prelims and can be counted on to go in the 48-49 range. Phelps has at least two more Olympics, so why the hype and rush to do it all NOW? Is Phelps dying of some terminal disease? Too much media influence on the coach I assume.
Too bad…
-Robert
Does anyone Know where I can find the splits?
-Thanks
http://www.athens2004.com/en/SwimmingMen/results?rsc=SWM411101&frag=SWM411101_C73B1
If this does not work, try www.athens2004.com and then work your way to the swimming results fairly quickly. This site is not incredibly consistent with how fast it posts results, but the results from the Mens 200 M Freestyle could be there are soon as 90 minutes from the time I am posting these links.