dmarc117 Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 (edited) I dunno man, he was definitely the weak link on the team. and what is with all the world records? seems like every event obliterates the old WR. I think I've seen most of the events, and the oldest standing WR I've seen is ian thorpe in the 400m free, which I think he set in 2000 or '04. why are swimmers these days so much faster than in the past? check my post. the new swimsuits are amazing. im not a fan of them. breaking too many records. MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- The Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit is making such a splash in the pool that U.S. head coach Mark Schubert believes every record in the sport could fall at the Beijing Olympics. Since the suit was unveiled in February, 19 long-course world records have been set and four short-course marks. The new Speedo suit has been worn in all but one of the 23 records. At this point in 2004 -- the last Olympic year -- five world records had been set. Edited August 11, 2008 by dmarc117 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 To bad Spitz was'nt there to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Thanks...clear enough to see the looks on the French guys faces... In all fairness, they've had centuries to perfect just the right facial expression for defeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 suck it, france can't believe the way that lezak guy closed in the last 50m against supposedly the fastest in the world. Yup - way cool. Even half way through the last leg I thought there was no way he'd catch them - HUGH effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 That race was simply amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Sacrebleu Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 In France folks are pretty excited about the result. It is true that the "You don't win silver your lose gold" that is the American MO produces superior athletes mentally. The french are just mentally weak when it comes to sports. Watching the olypmics in france is AWESOME. Live coverage starts at 5AM (or whenever the first events are, 4?). And runs through until the final event. They have a coouple of recaps here and there, and do cut back from time to time to another sport, but there are almost no commericals (maybe 2 minutes worth for evry hour) and since this is a sporting event, they show only...get this...sports! No figgin' bios about how so and so overcame asthma and an ingrown toenail as a child, no 'let's look back at the last olympics' no 'plausibly live events', 'no recapping events through montages rather than showing them. Just sport for 8 straight hours. The one major drawback is that they tend to focus most on sports that the french have a chance at medaling so amongst th swimming there has been an AWFUL lot of judo, fencing, and today sailing The french are getting their arses kicked in this olympics. Every one of their solid contenders has lost in their strong sports. The french win about as many medals as they statistically should given their size and economy (last summer olympics I think they were 7th in the medal count) but these olympics are going to be BRUTAL for the frogs. And this has nothing to do with the relay, but is swimming clean? How come it never comes up as a problem sport, since it seems like a prime contender for drug cheating? The only answer I have is that perhaps since technique is such a major factor in winning, maybe brute strength isn't as important as in running, or cycling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 That last 10-20 metres was unbelievable. Wow. he said metres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 And this has nothing to do with the relay, but is swimming clean? How come it never comes up as a problem sport, since it seems like a prime contender for drug cheating? The only answer I have is that perhaps since technique is such a major factor in winning, maybe brute strength isn't as important as in running, or cycling Dara Torres is dogged constantly, mostly because of her age. Not that she owes it to anyone, she volunteers to be tested all the freaking time, just to quiet the critics, but it's always among the first questions she's asked. I also recall back in the 80s, eastern block women swimmers were reportedly taking massive amounts of steroids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 he said metres ....with the French spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 ....with the French spelling. The language is dying out...like the whole country. I'm just doing my part to remember it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I also recall back in the 80s, eastern block women swimmers were reportedly taking massive amounts of steroids. One of the guys I worked with in Europe was from East Germany. He recalled an amusing anecdote concerning the East German women's swimming team. When the coach was asked why all of the members of his team had such deep voices, he replied, "They are here to swim, not to sing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Also, the pool is drastically different than other pools. It's 3 metres (Fr sp) rather than the normal 2 metres, has more lanes. and has "gutters" on the side to catch the splash water. It makes for a far smoother swim. Probably much more of a difference than the material being marketed by Speedo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirehairman Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 check my post. the new swimsuits are amazing. im not a fan of them. breaking too many records. It's not the suits, silly. The entire world just got orders of magnitude faster over the last four years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Also, the pool is drastically different than other pools. It's 3 metres (Fr sp) rather than the normal 2 metres, has more lanes. and has "gutters" on the side to catch the splash water. It makes for a far smoother swim. Probably much more of a difference than the material being marketed by Speedo. are all the pools different? these guys were swimming much faster with the suits in the prelims and trials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 are all the pools different? these guys were swimming much faster with the suits in the prelims and trials. I don't know if it's all the pools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 And this has nothing to do with the relay, but is swimming clean? How come it never comes up as a problem sport, since it seems like a prime contender for drug cheating? The only answer I have is that perhaps since technique is such a major factor in winning, maybe brute strength isn't as important as in running, or cycling You don't really see big muscle-bound guys swimming.....do you? There are reasons for that. Range of motion is cut back with too much muscle mass. These guys flex and bend almost to the point of double jointedness. Muscle is more dense and heavier than fat. There's a fine line between fighting your body sinking in the water.....and being bouyant enough to glide. You want to knife through the water....not plow through it....LOL. People with "extra muscle" than the norm and 1% body fat are notoriously slow swimmers (as far as competitive swimming goes). You can only muscle your way through water to a certain degree. If you look at the best swimmers, they have nice, long, lean bodies but smooth bellies, not 8-packs.....LOL. For men swimmers, I just don't think there's anything to gain by doping with steriods. HGH? I'm not sure. Now....it worked for the East German women, because women have a layer of fat that men do not. So they still had the bouyancy.....they could just pack on more muscle for speed. There was a price.....they weren't very good endurance swimmers. And they were freaky looking....LOL. And that WAS the most spectacular 4X100 relay I've ever seen!! The dogs thought I'd lost my mind, jumping up screaming at the TV for the last 20 meters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 You don't really see big muscle-bound guys swimming.....do you? There are reasons for that. Range of motion is cut back with too much muscle mass. These guys flex and bend almost to the point of double jointedness. Muscle is more dense and heavier than fat. There's a fine line between fighting your body sinking in the water.....and being bouyant enough to glide. You want to knife through the water....not plow through it....LOL. People with "extra muscle" than the norm and 1% body fat are notoriously slow swimmers (as far as competitive swimming goes). You can only muscle your way through water to a certain degree. If you look at the best swimmers, they have nice, long, lean bodies but smooth bellies, not 8-packs.....LOL. For men swimmers, I just don't think there's anything to gain by doping with steriods. HGH? I'm not sure. Now....it worked for the East German women, because women have a layer of fat that men do not. So they still had the bouyancy.....they could just pack on more muscle for speed. There was a price.....they weren't very good endurance swimmers. And they were freaky looking....LOL. And that WAS the most spectacular 4X100 relay I've ever seen!! The dogs thought I'd lost my mind, jumping up screaming at the TV for the last 20 meters. +1 Buoyancy is huge. I'm not a competitive swimmer but used to train with masters when I was doing triathalons and still swim for fitness. In general, guys have pretty lean legs, even if they've got a spare tire, so your legs just sink. As a result, I'm actually faster when I just pull with a pull buoy than when I swim without one even though I'm not kicking when I use the buoy. All because my legs aren't sinking like a damned plow. It is also why the governing body for triathalons, and I'm assuming other open water swimming competitions, only allow wet suits if the water temp is below a certain level. Because wetsuits make you buoyant and thus, faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSULions Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 That race was simply amazing. Totally agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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