Lisbeth Trickett of Australia. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

 

 

Gold Medalist Rebecca Adlington and Bronze medalist Joanne Jackson of Great Britain. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Garrett Weber-Gale and Michael Phelps freak out...Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Phelps get another Gold with a Little Help from Some Friends

One of the most exciting swimming races I've witnessed at the Olympics was the Men's 4X100 Freestyle Relay at the Sydney Games in 2000, where after much hype the Australians with a back-half anchor leg from Ian Thorpe out-touched Gary Hall Jr. and the Americans and taunted them with air guitars to spite Gary Hall Jr.'s words that the Americans were going to "smash the Aussies like guitars". Then there was the Men's 4X200 Freestyle Relay, an event dominated by the middle-distance strong Australians for years, and at the Athens Olympics Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Klete Keller passed the Australians as the new kings of middle distance. But the BEST swimming race I've seen was today at the Water Cube in Beijing. After the Men's Team from the USA set a New World Record in Prelims with the "B" Team, the expectations were high and the stage was set for the fastest heat ever. The race started at lightning speed with Eamon Sullivan of Australia leading off with a new World Record in the 100M Freestyle in 47.24 and Michael Phelps of the USA leading off in a new American Record time of 47.51. Then it got interesting. Sprint sensation Garrett Weber-Gale of the USA brought the Americans back the lead in the second leg splitting under World Record time with a 47.02, touching the wall just .43 one-hundreths of a second ahead of France. The lead shifted again in the third leg when Frederick Bousquet of France spilt under WR time with a 46.63, passing Cullen Jones and giving the French just a .59 one-hundreths of a second lead over the USA. Sprinting veteran Jason Lezak of the USA entered a full body-length behind the ex-World Record Holder Alain Bernard of France going into the final turnand it looked like the French not only had the Gold Medal wrapped up but also a New World Record. What happened next was unbelievable. Lezak didn't give and and slowly started to reel in Bernhard, who started to spin and falter in the last 10 meters. With two strokes left to go into the wall, Bernhard made the cardinal mistake as a sprint freestyler in he looked over at Lezak inside the flags. With the entire Water Cube shaking like there was an earthquake, Lezak passed Bernhard and out-touched him to the wall by .08 one-hundreths of a second setting a New World Record at a 3:08.24. Phelps went into his ballistic relay jube with Garrett Weber-Gale right behind him flexing the guns. It was awesome.

Other notable swims in day that saw five World Records fall at the pool were Kosuke Kitajima's new World Record and Gold Medal in the Men's 100M Breaststroke, Lisbeth Trickett of Australia set a New World Record in the Women's 100M Butterfly en route to gold, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe set a New World Record in the Women's 100M Backstroke in the Semi-Finals, and Great Britain's scored it's the first British women’s swimming Olympic gold medal in 48 years when Rebecca Adlington passed a fading Katie Hoff of the USA in the final meters.

More Splashes at the Cube

The Chinese Men's Team took the Synchronized 10M Platform with Germany landing the silver in a brilliant display of diving prowess. Here are some photos:

Yue Lin and Huo Liang of China. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Xin Wang and Ruolin Chen of China. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Yue Lin and Huo Liang of China. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Guo Jingjing of China. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

German Team. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

German Silver Medalists. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

Then my day 3 continued with a trip to the Archery Park. It would be like playing really dangerous darts if you could drink and shoot a bow and arrow. Korea won gold in record fashion in the Men's Team Archery Competition while China won the bronze medal match when Li Wenquan nailed a 10 score on his final shot...nice one! 

Li Wenquan of China shoots. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

And Wins! Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Jube continues. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 My long day ended next door to Archery at the Hockey fields where I just wanted to go work on a couple of pics. Four sports in one day is a little much, I may have to bring it back one gear tomorrow if I want to make it to Day 16.

 -DM

Nice Graphic. Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Dig the masks, but who's the real goalie? Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK

 

Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK