Owned. 7 for 7.

I love how they are throwing doping around now.

let them throw it, his blood is being stored just to disprove it when newer tests come out. dude shouldn't have glided in the last meter, then he'd be "the guy that stopped Phelps's 8" now he's just another silver medal in his wake.

BhamHoosier Wrote:let them throw it, his blood is being stored just to disprove it when newer tests come out. dude shouldn't have glided in the last meter, then he'd be "the guy that stopped Phelps's 8" now he's just another silver medal in his wake.

In the other guys defense, I think he was doing what most swimmers are taught to do. Part of the reason the announcers were so incredulous was that taking a short stroke at the wall, like Phelps did, is generally understood to be bad tactics (though I could never understand why part of a stroke wouldn't be faster than no stroke - but I'm not a swimmer either so what do I know).

jh Wrote:

BhamHoosier Wrote:let them throw it, his blood is being stored just to disprove it when newer tests come out. dude shouldn't have glided in the last meter, then he'd be "the guy that stopped Phelps's 8" now he's just another silver medal in his wake.

In the other guys defense, I think he was doing what most swimmers are taught to do. Part of the reason the announcers were so incredulous was that taking a short stroke at the wall, like Phelps did, is generally understood to be bad tactics (though I could never understand why part of a stroke wouldn't be faster than no stroke - but I'm not a swimmer either so what do I know).

because the time it takes to finish a stroke is wasted time. It makes sense if you visualize it.

anyone have a video of it?

Only place I know to see it right now is on the NBC site using the Micro$oft plug-in:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player....eload=true

flyingswoosh Wrote:because the time it takes to finish a stroke is wasted time. It makes sense if you visualize it.

I understand what you're saying (obviously you wouldn't want your hands down by your side when they could be touching the wall), but I think too many swimmers are overly conservative in coasting in to the wall. It will be interesting to see if Phelp's finish will have a lasting effect, with copycats trying to squeeze in an extra storke, or if convential wisdom will again reign supreme.

Who's to say Cavic didn't touch first? Maybe the sensors weren't perfect or maybe they touched at the same time but Phelps touched just slightly harder to register first. He still gets the gold but there's probably at least .01 seconds of luck involved at least some of the time. Give him credit for closing the gap in the final seconds.

It looks like Torres should have tried for another stroke as well.

Laettners Legacy Wrote:anyone have a video of it?

There is video on this site without any plug in.

0.01 video

man...even when watching that video...I ma still amazed phelps hit first..... and at the .01 level of timing too...that makes it even crazier. and then you see that the guy was hands infront going to hit the wall and Phelps was doing a full stroke into the wall.... I mean...WOW.

It's quite possible that Cavic lost the race because he picked his head up just before he got to the wall. flyingswoosh, I'd be more willing to call that a choke than Bernard getting walked down in 4x1.

jh Wrote:It's quite possible that Cavic lost the race because he picked his head up just before he got to the wall. flyingswoosh, I'd be more willing to call that a choke than Bernard getting walked down in 4x1.

no argument here, although Cavic just made a small technical error. An error made by a lot of swimmers

if that small error cost you the championship/gold medal...its a choke

Laettners Legacy Wrote:if that small error cost you the championship/gold medal...its a choke

what if it cost you the silver medal instead? is it a choke when you're supposed to lose? In the other race, bernard had a huge lead and was also a better swimmer (in that event, within the actual event).

I associate choking more with mental, rather than physical, errors. I'd put lifting your head before the finish in the category of a mental error (even is many swimmers do it regularly). We'll just have to agree to disagree on the extent of Bernard's mental error during the 4x1.

I do believe that underdogs, even heavy underdogs, can choke if they make mental mistakes which give the competition away. I don't think it has to cost you a win to be considered a choke (finishing out of the medals or third at the trials would be in the same category), but we really don't pay much attention to people who weren't going to win anyway so they get a free pass.

One more question, during the end of a freestyle race, can a swimmer keep one arm extended & take a stroke with the other arm (like the pull-touch method from kids swimming lessons)? This would seem to combine the best of both worlds.

jh Wrote:I associate choking more with mental, rather than physical, errors. I'd put lifting your head before the finish in the category of a mental error (even is many swimmers do it regularly). We'll just have to agree to disagree on the extent of Bernard's mental error during the 4x1.

I do believe that underdogs, even heavy underdogs, can choke if they make mental mistakes which give the competition away. I don't think it has to cost you a win to be considered a choke (finishing out of the medals or third at the trials would be in the same category), but we really don't pay much attention to people who weren't going to win anyway so they get a free pass.

One more question, during the end of a freestyle race, can a swimmer keep one arm extended & take a stroke with the other arm (like the pull-touch method from kids swimming lessons)? This would seem to combine the best of both worlds.

i never said cavic didn't choke, i was just playing devil's advocate.

no, you can't take an extra stroke with one arm while extending the other. If i'm understanding you correctly that is.

flyingswoosh Wrote:no, you can't take an extra stroke with one arm while extending the other. If i'm understanding you correctly that is.

You are, and that's what I figured. I just wasn't sure how "free" the freestyle was.

jh Wrote:I just wasn't sure how "free" the freestyle was.

man, they tax the out of it