Team USA were in the lead with 21 golds, I think, followed by...Russia?? Hmmm...I'll have to check again.
Anywayz, it was Phelps' quest to wipe the slate clean with his medal tally which unfortunately fell one medal short of perfection. Due to the disqualification of the Men's 4 x 100m medley relay during the heats, that meant he wasn't going to be to swim the race.
It wasn't really his fault, he wasn't even participating in the heats. His Butterfly swimmate Ian Crocker -whom he beat at the Men's 100m Butterfly to grab gold- dove off the block 0.04 seconds too early before the third swimmer Scott Usher could complete his swim.
Anywayz, it's been a great competition -in my opinion- for Michael Phelps because he won the swimmer of the tournament award. Kinda like Most Valueable Player in soccer. I think he deserves it considering he broke FOUR world records, including one that was previously held by recently retired swimmer, Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe!!
And everybody knows Michael Phelps isn't that great when it comes to the Freestyle but he went down the history books as the first swimmer to ever hit a timing of under 1 minute 44 seconds!! He also destroyed his former record during the 400IM by over 2 seconds, leading from start to finish & ended with a new global standard of 4:06.22, leaving behind his teammate Ryan Lochte in second.
Ryan Lochte did pretty well too, finally getting that gold he always wanted in Backstroke & surpassing his teammate Aaron Peirsol.
Generally, overlooking the little mishap that happened towards the end of the tournament, Team USA should enjoy their domination in the world of swimming & continue to shine during the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Ahh, looking forward to seeing those bared abs again. Here are some pictures:
Laterz...
Lenny
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