Swimming Blogs - Jeff Grace

For a swimming fan the last two days have been heaven. The Olympics has been everything that we could ask for, incredible swims, upsets and the quest for eight gold medals continues.

The 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay was certainly the greatest race I have ever watched (and I know from reading responses on this site many agree). I am reminded of great races in the past where athletes and coaches have shown incredible emotion.

There are two that come to mind. For me the race that epitomizes this was in 1992 when Mark Tweksbury out touched Jeff Rouse to the win the 100 meter backstroke. The excitement and the joy that could be seen in Tweks’s face was unbelievable, he held nothing back (that has to be the one that stands out for a Canadian, eh?)!

The second was at Men’s NCAA Championships this year when Arizona came away with the win. I had the opportunity to be standing beside Rick Demont when Joel Greenshields won the final relay and seeing his raw emotion was amazing!

Talking to Demont afterwards it was very apparent how intense his emotional reaction was, “It is hard to put it into words you know, the experience that we are experiencing is a grande experience, it is one of the big ones in life and you don’t get a whole lot of those in your life.”

“Maybe you do get several, but they don’t come around often. When you get them it is like the highest form of living, you have these other things that are more important than a swim meet, but all of the people in here are here because that is what we think it is or at least a piece of it.”

Tonight seeing Garrett Weber-Gale and Michael Phelps cheer for Lezak and celebrate after the finish was amazing. You couldn't help but think that they were experiencing that higher form of living that Demont was talking about. The raw emotion, the passion, the love for competition and the love for the sport, those are things that keep us swimming junkies coming back for more.

Seeing athletes be able to experience this is an amazing thing, it is not only amazing for them, but it is amazing for all of us who are true fans.

Knowing the hard work, focus and commitment that went into that race can teach us all how to go about reaching our goals and just how much fun it can be when we achieve them.