So now that the Beijing Olympics are officially over, we can look back
at all of the action that happened in the pool. It certainly lived up
to all of the hype, and with 20 world records set, is the fastest meet
in the world. Morning finals provided little disruption to the
excitement of the competition, and it pays no use to wonder what could
have been accomplished if there were evening finals. It seems as
though everything went off without a hiccup and the Chinese hosted
everything wonderfully (from what I could see through my television
anyways).
Something
that really impressed me was how much attention the world paid to
swimming. We all know that swimming is one of the most popular Olympic
sports, but I would never imagine all of the coverage there was and the
number of people who watched. Even if it is only every four years, the
attention was unbelievable. Hopefully that will continue into the next
three years in some way, and I think that NBC has hoped to keep their
high ratings by purchasing the broadcasting rights to Nationals and Worlds. I'm just glad that these Olympics have made the world
(especially the US) so aware of swimming.
One of the greatest
things about the Olympics was the venue. The Water Cube was a
spectacular piece of art and will stick out in my mind after these
games end as a something very unique. Having seen pictures of it in
construction and even completed, I was still amazed to see it light up at night, especially how it could make different designs with the
bubbles on the sides. It was something that caught the whole world's
attention.
The swimmers of these Olympics have been nothing less
than amazing, showing so much sportsmanship and respect for the
occasion. There was almost no "drama" from swimming, as is involved
with some other sports (gymnastics, anyone?) and it goes to show the
kind of people that are involved in the sport. FINA announced that the Olympics were clean, and that is a major accomplishment after seeing
the problems that other sports are having. I was just very impressed
with all of the competitors, shaking hands and congratulating each
other on their performances. It's a great thing to see.
In the
team category, Team USA won the most medals (31), the most gold medals,
and the men and women topped their respective medal counts. Some
people have criticized the team for not living up to the expectations
coming in to the meet, but seriously? Considering how difficult it is
to make the US team, qualifying is harder than in any other country.
Winning a medal is a tremendous accomplishment and striking gold is
nothing short of amazing and something the United States did 12 times.
As with any other meet, people will have off swims, and others will
have the meet of their life. No athlete should be criticized for not
breaking a record or swimming their best time because the pressure to
compete at that level is unimaginable (I imagine, I don't really
know). But the United States has once again proved itself as the best
swimming country in the world and will stay in that position for many
years to come.
So thats about it for my overall impressions of
the Games. I, along with countless others, am somewhat depressed by
their ending, but I can drag out their excitement by reliving them and
offering my thoughts on each race/swimmer. Until next time enjoy some
of the closing ceremony highlights.
-Tim
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