In the end I guess it still is the swimmer not the suit they are wearing. So Phelps got beat in the 200 by a guy wearing what will soon be an illegal suit. His coach said he would pull him from international meets, but what did Mike do? He turned to Speedo and said thanks for everything your suit is just fine with me and went on to set a new world record in what is arguably his best event the 200 fly. Gotta admire a guy for sticking with his guns, going with what he knows works and banking on his talent as a swimmer and his hard work to win races. Then today he showed again why although he has made some mistakes in his personal life, he is hands down one of the classiest athletes in the world, and one that every young swimmer and athletes in general should look up to.
Today was the rematch of the 100 fly from the Olympics last year. The race where Michael came back to beat Milorad Cavic by .01 and claim his 8th gold of the games. It was the impossible finish and the perfect end to that memorable quest for gold, however, apparently a year later Cavic still thinks he won and had no problem telling the world that he thought so. Come on dude, it is a timed sport. The clock isn't biased. It doesn't care who wins, you just didn't finish well and you got beat, get over it. Then you add in the drama from this years worlds, where so far 36 WR have been set, Cavic saying he will buy Phelps a suit if that is the problem, and more or less just talking trash. I am not a big fan of Rowdy Gaines as a commentator, but he said it best when he said, "Don't poke the tiger in the cage."
Phelps very cooly went about his business, got ready for the rematch and sported the old school suit. Cavic went out fast. I mean ridiculously fast. Phelps, went out fast too. Although not as fast, when he was out within 7 tenths you knew he had a shot, and he reeled Cavic in the whole last 25 meters. It was a thing of beauty. The loud mouth trash talked getting stalked down by the greatest swimmer the world has ever seen. Phelps never said a word. In fact when asked about last year he said no comment. He just went out and beat him in the pool where it counts. I don't often cheer at the TV but I was standing up and yelling at the end of the race, and I am sure the first few minutes of my workout right after where a bit harder than usual because I was juiced after watching that race.
Phelps is the epitomy of sportsmanship. He used the trash talk for fuel, did what he does and proved he is the faster swimmer. My favorite part was after he repped Speedo by pulling the suit off his chest for the crowd, he shook hands with Cavic. Nothing hurts worse than someone being nice!
No comments:
Post a Comment