Jason Lezak for President

No pedro....Vote for Lezak!!!!!

WOW that is amazing

Most insane night ever

all i have to say is i hope i never have to hear rowdy gaines announce again. he almost ruined the whole race with his dumb commentary

What was Lezak's splits for the second 50 in the relay and in the solo?

mustard... that's a good one

Once again the french hold true to their history. A big battle is waged and they show up late. The only thing good to come out of france is mustard.

Michael may get the bling, but Jason is THE MAN. Rowdy ought to have to kiss his ass on national t.v. for the Athens slams and the "hold on to silver" comment.

can't get enough of this race...and can hardly believe what i saw...hope somebody sells the dvd of the swimming...none to be found from Athens or Sydney

best race IN HISTORY

Video of the relay

http://ballhype.com/video/video_swimming_4_x_100_men_s_relay…

First of all best race ever, hands down, period, end of story.
But after that race it reminded me of what Garretts always talking about, getting swimming to the masses and making this not just a four year sport.
I watched this race with two of my friends(non swimmers) but they were going just as crazy as me. They obviously didnt realize some of the crazyiness until i explained everything, but just to see them getting as into it as they might a kick to win the Super Bowl or a walk off shot in game 7 of the World Series really gave me hope for this sport could become in time

Unreal. I was screaming and yelling, and then my phone BLEW UP with texts and calls from other people going crazy. I'm sure a lot of you had a similar experience. How many people across the country went nuts when that happened? Funny to think about.

That was rising to the moment like I've never seen. I'm so happy for Lezak, he gave that speech to the team and then swam outside of what anyone could think was possible to win it.
Going into big meets does anybody else add up splits that you think you/your team can go? And then exaggerate a bit with some ridiculous splits? If anyone put those splits in front of you before the race you'd have laughed them outta the room!
Awesome. I just want to watch it, read about it, and talk about it for the rest of the day!

Garret, what you first said about "good luck falling asleep tonight America" hit the nail on the head. I was so jacked up after that race, I wanted to go swim at 11:30 at night. I will find some way to put that race on my iPod so I can watch before I swim a big meet, because it is the ultimate pump up.

I know a lot of people are comparing this to other great relay swims, but there really is no comparison. The closest is probably Shirley Babashoff's anchor leg in 1976 to catch the doped East German squad after they were heavily favored.
In the 1984 and 2004 Men's 4x200 relays, both Bruce Hayes and Klete Keller dove in with leads swimming against the world record holder. In this particular race, Jason Lezak was well BACK of the world record holder and had to real him in.

That was the most incredible race I've ever seen. Single greatest sports moment I've ever witnessed. Jason Lezak- I have had the privelege to stand next to this guy and see him race in person, and I've never seen anyone as powerful in the water as he is. He mauls the water, just rips through it like nobody else. It came as no surprise to me he was able to crank out such a time, because when he is at his best in the 100, he is the best. He hasn't been able to perform individually at the Olympic level yet, but as I said when he is at his best, as you saw in the relay, nobody can touch him. I was excited about Lezak anchoring because I knew he had the speed to beat anybody on earth in the 100, but 3/4 the way down the pool on the first lap, I thought no way... 1/4 the way down the pool on the second lap... still dang, we're going to lose. Halfway... he's catching him omg... 3/4.. this cant be possible... flags... HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS... wall- SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF. Jason Lezak is incredible.

One more thing worth mentioning:

Jason Lezak is the oldest men's swimmer on the U.S. Olympic team at age 32

maybe we will finally get to see an interview from him.

Many times I have watched him in the lanes next to our practice swimming a sprint 25 - 50 - or 12 & 1/2 yards off the blocks.

It catches my breath because the speed just looks so surreal.
There is no one swimming next to him and the swim usually comes without any fanfare what-so-ever.
The guy can just get himself up to swim FAST!
I know it's fast, but never have an accurate watch on him to know for sure.
Tonight there was a watch and the swimming was most definitely - completely surreal.
Congratulations Jason for bringing it home - again - but like never before.
46.06
You shocked a lot of people tonight - right on!
USA loves you!
Ahelee
Nova Masters

jeason lezak: the godfather of swimming

that was the most badass race of all time hands down

haha who heard rowdy say at the 75 lezak needs to try to hold on to the silver

EPIC. I'm so glad I saw that! but I won't be able to fall asleep!!

no, they had videos from the trials during the trials... and theyve been showing a few olympics highlights i think...

but wow, if phelps gets the 3 million dollars or whatever it is for getting the 8 golds, i say that lezak deserves at least half of it

There's no possible way the American swimmers get their afternoon nap in after that. Absolutely unbelievable! Thankfully Phelps has an easy 200 fly coming up in the night session, cause he'll need to somehow not have a letdown swim of epic proportions so close to that race.

They may not have video rights to it, so I wouldn't expect it

if that doesnt get number 1 on the top 10 on sportscenter tomorrow, im never watching espn again

Holy Crap!!! That was INCREDIBLE!! How am I supposed to go to bed after that? That was an amazing swim by everyone. Damn that felt good!!

HOw does everyone feel that compares to the 4 x 200 relay athens?
Both teams the americans beat had the WR holder anchoring so it certainly made it exciting but I think the fact that Lezak dove in that far behind and caught Bernard the WR holder was INCREDIBLE!

Cullen probably got out at the side and just stayed there

also, if my memory serves me correctly, in an interview at santa clara he said he trains SCY and only does about 4000 yards per day because he only does what he needs to do... INSANE

Well this proves that anyone who says they will smash someone else like a guitar will ultimately lose their battle - wait a second, oh yeah Chris didn't you say that?

Second very good point and one that I was going to make in the blog I am working on is that Lezak trains himself - he may be the only one in the world who can do that and do it successfully he is one unique cat!

I saw Cullen on the side of the pool at the finish....He could not possibly have been running along the side of the pool waving was he?

haha garret

that was INSANE, but he wont be near it for a few reasons

1. the adrenaline level wont be NEARLY as high as it was before
2. he'll have to go through prelims and semis
3. he wont be able to draft off of bernard
that said, i think that this is the greatest moment/performance in atheltic history

where did cullen go after he swam?

That was ridiculous!

Yeah, after all the dust settled I saw the reaction times...there are just too many things to talk about... I might go for a jog at 1:30am in Philly just to calm down...

Wow....that is all.

And one more thing before I attempt to fall asleep... check out the relay reaction times of Weber-Gale and Lezak! 0.06 and 0.04! Talk about perfect! Truly, the race was perfect!

OMG!!! 46.06 anchor split for Jason!!

And may I remind you all that this man - trains himself - without a coach!

We watch him go at it his way and alone most all the time. Occasionally he has a mate or two join him like Derya or Randal. But mostly alone at Woollett in Irvine - next to the masters swimmers.
NOW THAT is swimming OUT OF THIS WORLD!! -
Jason definitely puts Irvine, California on the map!
Can not WAIT to see the TV coverage!

Obviously these were the wrong guys to be yapping your trap at....

WOW

We were so pumped and yelling so loud that we woke neighbors up ha ha. I wont be sleeping tonight and I will comfortably say that was the greatest swimming race of all time and maybe the greatest race in general of all time!!!! French who!?

I have two words for Alain Bernard.... F*#K YOU!!!!

Oh I absolutely agree that they don't equate at all. But it still makes it a little easier to wrap your head around. A 46.06 is just soo absurd that it's hard to even fathom. And do think that 5 years ago the winning time in the 400 free relay was a 3:13.17. That's almost FIVE seconds slower than this record. It wouldn't even make the final! Garrett, you said it best.. there is NO WAY that I'm falling asleep any time soon! Amazing! Simply Amazing!

AMAZING

Amazing....I started to say to my friend that it reminded me of the Dolan swim...but really this is all on its own....amazing....

To be honest Matt that yards conversion probably doesn't do him justice. As I've discussed in my blog, the conversion factors are completely screwy because they haven't changed but everyone's turns are so much better than they were 20 years ago. So I think it would be more appropriate to say Lezak was about a 38

best race. ever.

Never mind America!!!

Good luck falling asleep tonight America...

I don't like agreeing with you Chris while we are in competition, but I second everything you said!!!

to many bloggers here for me to make a good point but no one has mentioned that 5, yes 5 teams went under the old World Record!! Just insane. If there is ever a race like that again I want to see it!

This is a race where the actual outcome actually exceeded the hype by far. Think about the things that happened along the way. In order to get to Lezak's swim, Phelps needed to lead off in a LTB by .4, Weber Gale had to swim .6 faster than his flat start, about as good as you can expect from him, Cullen equals his best relay time ever. Nothing can explain what Jason did. He theoretically should be able to go 46 flat start but I doubt we will see that. Really its akin to something I think we've all seen in the sport, where someone lets the emotion of a relay carry them to an ethereal plain.
I think this is an absolute career making/defining/crystalizing moment for Jason. He's been on a lot of great relays but he was the man who outstepped up the defending world record holder, the man who broke the world record holder leading off, and Michael Phelps. In the biggest race with all the best swimmers in the world, he was BY FAR the greatest guy in the pool. And I doubt anyone who was watching tonight will forget.

BEST RACE EVER!! Easily beats the 800 free relay from Athens. Lezak is the man!! (Oh, and for those of you at all interested, I did the conversion of Lezak's final split, and it comes out to a 39.75 in yards. Wrap your heads around that one too, just for fun)

all i can say is !!!!!!!!!!!!

Sullivan will win - As I stated in my blog Lezak is so inconsistent in this individual event - I hope I am wrong because I want to see a human go 46 mid and I think Lezak is the only one who could pull that off.

Too many contenders in that one now, Chris... Sullivan smashes the record, Bernard has to redeem himself, Lezak could definitely show us the first 46 ever, and Hayden will be right in the thick of things... Who's gonna win it?

Damn you DeSantis you making me look like a traitor - you pickin the Canadians and me leaving them oot!!

We are close in this comp and I hate losing more than anything, but if I lose because my country men prove me wrong I will be over the moon!!

canada was .03 over the world record... sorry to burst your bubble

lezak is gonna be one of the favorites now for the 100 individually
i already posted this but... here are some interesting facts
Lezaks split time, 46.06= 39.75 scy!!!!!!
bernard was out in a 21.27 (yeah, under the 50 WR on the first split of a relay 100)
phelps was 47.51, .01 over the old WR, which was broken by sullivan with a 47.24
weber gale was a 47 flat, jones was a 47.6
the usa broke the record by 3.99 seconds!!!!!!
that was INSANE
there were 5 teams under the WR from prelims (USA, france, australia, italy, sweeden)
canada was .03 over the world record from prelims
so i pretty much just copied and pasted from another thread on this site, i also posted it on a facebook group, but that was INSANE

Best race i've ever seen

So many great parts of this relay. Brent Hayden led off for Canada in 47.5-he's going to be a contender in the 100.

it was actually 24.5 - but unreal none the less. MP split 23.3, 24.2. How about 6 countries - including Canada going under the WR. And A WR lead-off too. Greatest Race Ever??

he was back in a 23.5!!!!!

forget pedro, vote for lezak!!!!!!