Swimming Blogs - ActiveReno

Wow… Eight days of NBC’s marathon coverage of swimming and Michael Phelps has come to a close. Phelps helped the network achieve unthinkable ratings (http://tinyurl.com/5cqxte) while his performance in the pool gives him the opportunity to make an eight—yes, I said EIGHT—figure financial gain (http://tinyurl.com/5m2pbl). Words can’t describe Phelps’s swims but the most amazing thing during his 8-day, 17-swim program was the reaction from the non-swimming American. A few examples:

- I watched the 100 fly showdown in a bar. When he touched first, the place erupted. By erupted, I mean, the place went crazy. People were jumping up and down, high fiving, fist-pumping, even hugging. It was a reaction you would expect to see if the hometown team kicked a 55-yard field goal with no time left to win the Super Bowl. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

- Luckily that night I was wearing a swim shirt. I had at least a dozen people come up to me and start talking about Michael Phelps. They rattled off statistics left and right. “He has a six-seven wingspan.” “He is from Baltimore but trains at Michigan…. But he’s moving back to Baltimore after Beijing.” “One of his sisters barely missed making the team in 1996.” Remember, these were people in a bar. I wasn’t at lap swim at the local gym, I wasn’t around my swim friends, I was around “non-swimmers” but that night all of them sounded like “swimmers.” Once again, I felt like I was dreaming.

- The next morning I went to breakfast and sat at a table next to four policemen. Hoping to hear some cool stories about chasing criminals or other exciting adventures, I eavesdropped their conversation. They weren’t talking about guns—they were talking about something better: Michael Phelps. It was quite amusing to watch two of the cops try to demonstrate Phelps’s half–stroke finish to their two partners who missed the race.

These are just three examples I experienced of Michael Phelps Phever (sorry – I had to do it). I’m sure everyone else has his or her own stories too.

With that being said, where does this leave the sport? The greatest swimmer ever, just accomplished the greatest athletic feat ever. He is now in the mainstream. Phelps will be mentioned in the same sentence as the Jordans, the Armstrongs, and the Ruths. He has etched himself a place in athletic history.

Now that Phelps has made it, will the sport of swimming make it? Unfortunately, as I write this, I don’t think it will. I think swimming will be swept under the rug until 2012. Is it fair? No, hell no. Does this sport deserved to be covered by the mainstream media in non-Olympic years? Yes it does.

Well, why isn’t swimming in the American spotlight besides one week every four years? Because, let’s face it, swim meets are boring to watch. When I attended the 2004 trials in Long Beach I got bored during the never-ending heats of the 200 fly. I even found myself people watching during some of the final swims. I wasn’t able to make this year’s trials in Omaha, but I watched some of the prelims coverage via the Internet. After three minutes I found myself opening up another tab and surfing the net. I’m a huge swim fan, but imagine the average person—they would be bored after 3 seconds.

So what does swimming need to step-up to the next level and bring attention to this great sport. I have some ideas, but I’m going to hold off on sharing those until my next blog. I’m interested in hearing your take. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks meets are boring? Maybe I’m wrong for thinking that the sport needs to change to bring in a larger following? Let me know what you think…