The best thing about that is listening to the color commentator. It turns out that awe sounds the same in every language--disbelieving laughter.
Why are there no English broadcasts? I think I've seen German, Spanish, and Italian. Aren't they in Australia, and aren't the Americans kicking ass? Or are they just not being posted to youtube?
They're just not being posted to YouTube. My local Fox Sports station is showing a couple of hours of Australian coverage every day and you can get (as long as you can trick them into thinking that you're visiting from down under) a live stream of everything here.
Ogged,
Have you heard any commentary on Phelps' breathing every stroke on fly? That's pretty unusual, and the conventional wisdom is that it uses more energy (though, obviously, allows one to breathe more).
Does that flame thing go off every time there's a new record?
It seems like swimming is one of those things that is better watched on TV than in person.
Phelps' breathing every stroke on fly
I'm taking a look right now, but I think I remember his coach saying in this video that they decided to integrate his breathing with every stroke so he could get the oxygen benefits without breaking his rhythm.
Yeah, Bowman explains it beginning at 11:10 in that video.
He gets his chest down sufficiently on every stroke so breathing every stroke isnt that bad. Moreover, you see it more frequently in the 200 fly.
"Unitard" always sounds vaguely offensive. ("Look at that unitard.")
The red line is cool. I would also like a feature where I could plug in my own time for a 200m butterfly and see at what point he'd lap me.
Yeah; I rewatched too and notice my initial impression was off.
That guy is just a mutant.
I see that now (PDF) Phelps is swimming the 200 fly in about the same time Spitz was swimming the 200 free.
"I liked the giant torch, too."
Those suits don't leave much to the imagination.
16: Yup, at 5:13.
Also, this record is one "on which the rest of the world will bite out their teeth" for the next fifty years.
God damn it Ogged. Last night I had a dream about watching Phelps demolish some record with a porpoise-like flourish in the last 50 m. I blame this on you. If I wanted to dream about svelte, handsome men, I'd have chosen to be gay, thank you very much.
That was your wife's dream, Scott, and you shouldn't have peeked.
Is there an event in which unlimited underwater swimming is allowed?
There's some wacky competition in which they wear snorkels and swim with fins, but I can't find the video right now, and I'm pretty sure it's not a FINA sanctioned event.
No, I mean when there's no 15 yard rule.
It just seems that that should be the free free style, without that rule.
20: Yeah, I thought I heard 'frog-man' but I wasn't trusting my German that much.
Wikipedia says the reason they outlawed underwater swimming in freestyle competition is to keep competitors from passing out.
However, one Japanese swimmer, Masaru Furukawa, circumvented the rule by not surfacing at all after the start, but swimming as much of the lane under water as possible before breaking the surface. He swam all but 5 m under water for the first three 50 m laps, and also swam half under water for the last lap, winning the gold medal.
Since only Mexicans actually care about swimming, I thought this would be a good place to say that I made an absolutely delicious pizza for dinner tonight, with a crackling crisp thin crust.
Did you make your own dough? I also made pizza last night, but I bought the dough from Trader Joe's and rolled it out. I got the crust super crispy too, and then put on some jar sauce, leeks, frisee, veggie sausage, and fontina.
I usually make my own sauce, but I didn't have tomato paste at hand. Unfortunately, I had already poured the oil and water together. How bad is it really to pour 1/3 cup oil down the sink?