I’m an Olympic junkie. My wife and the bags underneath my eyes for the last two weeks can attest to that.
And like the rest of the world, I was captivated by the performance of swimmer Michael Phelps in Beijing. Eight gold medals, seven world records in a week. It’s pretty unbelievable.
“The biggest thing is that nothing is impossible,” Phelps said when asked about the lessons learned over these past eight days. “So many people said it couldn’t be done. But all it takes is an imagination. That’s something I learned, and it helped me.”
What is also unbelievable is Phelps’ physical makeup. Phelps was born to be a swimmer. There’s no doubt about it. He wasn’t supposed to do anything but swim. He was born with the genetics to be the fastest person on the planet at moving through water efficiently and fast.
Just like Tiger Woods was born to be a golfer and Lance Armstrong was made to ride bikes, everything about Phelps screams out human dolphin.
The most decorated Olympian of all time is not only one of the tallest swimmers in the pool at 6-feet-4, but also has an even bigger arm span.
His disproportionately long torso allows him to generate force from his body’s core, allowing him to shunt great volumes of water behind him.
Phelps also has the legs of a man who’s only 5-10 inches, which provides him with more efficient kicking. This, in turn, helps Phelps save energy by using fewer strokes than other swimmers.
Phelps also has a specially-built Speedo swim suit that is woven specifically to reduce drag. His size 15 feet are so flexible he can lie flat on his back, arch his feet and curl his toes to touch the ground.
After he set the 100-meter butterfly world record in 2003, Phelps’ blood lactose level was an absurdly low 5.6 millimoles/litres of blood, half or a third that of other top swimmers.
As he competed in heats and finals in Beijing, researchers say he swam enough laps to equal a runner having to finish eight 26-mile marathons.
The other star of the Beijing Olympics was also a freak of nature. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won both the 100 and 200 at the games in world record times and has been called the tallest sprinter in history.
The 6-foot-5 Bolt towers over every other sprinter in the field and took only 40 strides to win the 100 title. In comparison, 5-9 American Walter Dix took 47 to cover the same distance.
Traditionally, height has been seen as a detriment to sprinting. But Bolt has changed the mold. Sprinters are supposed to be compact and muscular and tall guys have physics working against them. It’s very, very difficult to produce enough power to overcome the drag of a tall frame.
• Federal Way resident Heather Brand finished 42nd overall in the 100-meter butterfly race on Aug. 9 inside the Water Cube in Beijing. Brand, 25, swam for her native Zimbabwe in the Olympic Games and moved to Federal Way to train with the King Aquatic Club.
She swam a time of 1:01.39 in her preliminary heat in Beijing. The gold medal was won by Australia’s Libby Trickett in 56.73.
• Megan Jendrick, who also trains with the King Aquatic Club, made the final of the 100-meter breaststroke — ultimately finishing in fifth place —and captured a silver medal as part of the United States’ 4×100-meter medley relay in the swimming pool.
Jendrick won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics and has set 26 American records and one world record in her swimming career.
She graduated from Emerald Ridge High School and currently lives in Tacoma.
• Margaret Hoelzer, another King swimmer from the United States, came into the Beijing Olympics as the world-record holder in the 200 backstroke, but she lost that distinction in the final. Hoelzer took silver behind Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, who lowered the mark from 2:06.09 to 2:05.24. Hoelzer also won bronze in the 100 back.
• Renton High School graduate and current Federal Way resident Aretha Thurmmond finished in 10th place in the discus competition in Beijing. The United States national champion has thrown the discus in three Olympics.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
