The American kid was just too good, a star is born in all that.
Gutting for Becky.
Gutting for Becky.
London 2012 - Aquatics Centre
- Thread starter Nick 0208 Ldn
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The maturity she showed in her interview there too. So composed. Incredible at 15.
I'm a novice when it comes to this sport but it makes little senses that a 15 years old person can beat other contestants.She's not even close to be fully developed from a physical POV, this is ridiculous
Swimming seems to be the sport where essentially young teenagers like Katie Ledekcy, Ye Shiwen and Missy Franklin can dominate
No idea why as I barely know anything about swimming, maybe its just the way they can glide across the pool
No idea why as I barely know anything about swimming, maybe its just the way they can glide across the pool
No question of doping or is that just for 15yo Chinese swimmers?
I hope the chinese accuse her of doping.
Lineker raised that point candidly to Thorpe
How did Thorpe answer? He was one of the more vocal defendants of the Chinese swimmer so I expect he did the same here.
It would be funny if someone put the question to that US coach.
Went on some spiel about how we should be careful when we bring up such matters and we shouldn't bring race and nationality into it either.
I know nothing about what was expected in the swimming, but no gold medals for GB must surely be considered a big failure.
There are still the open water and diving competitions to come but yes i think the general medal haul [not necessarily gold] was likely projected to be higher than what we've seen thus far.
Adlington was the only one who stood a chance to win a gold medal. So I guess it's not as a huge deal as expected. No one could have seen Ledecky coming.
Keri-Anne Payne is probably the only gold medal hope GB have left in the water.
Keri-Anne Payne is probably the only gold medal hope GB have left in the water.
Have GB always been crap at swimming then? Did we ever have a good period?
France swimming seems to be going well, another gold for them. I'm just shocked when the USA don't win a gold.
I don't think we have ever dominated. We always seem to get a few medal with one outstanding performance, Wilkie, Goodhew etc.
We're an island nation who tend to be better at ocean based water events: think sailing or the Spanish armada.
Bert de Clos again lol
He is fantastic. Could anyone be more enthusiastic.
Haha, Bert was great
Bert: Unbelievable. x10
I want to see a BBC commissioned chat show called Le Clos Encounters with Bert as host.
It must happen.
It must happen.
Mental how the young swimmers can shave off so much time. That Ledecky was 5 seconds faster than her PB in less than a month according to the net.
It's not that unusual for any young athlete though, the body grows in spurts, so such improvement can just happen very easily.
That's what Ian Thorpe has been saying and it's fair point. I think some people have been too quick to accuse that Chinese swimmer. That American shaved 20s off her PB this year which metre for metre is more than the Chinese but no-one's accusing her.
When I was 15-16, I dropped 45 seconds from my 500yd freestyle time at my state championship meet. I never swam against anyone decent so it was just me in the pool by myself or laps ahead of the next person. So at states against competitive swimmers, I was able to pace myself better.
Not that that is a problem for any of these swimmers.
The reason there were accusations towards the Chinese swimmer were that her 100m free splits were insanely fast after 3 fairly good splits in the other strokes. So good in fact that it was faster than Lochte's. Kicking(not literally, but putting it all in) that hard after 300m means she wasn't putting it all into her first 3 strokes. There's also the Chinese swim team's recent history of doping.
I highly doubt that Phelps wont return, anyone else?
I can see him returning in 2014, ahead of Rio.
I can see him returning in 2014, ahead of Rio.
Nah, can't see it, he's nothing left to prove and he's made for life financially I'd have thought.
Probably the major difference is the lack of smashing the worlds record or swimming a lap faster then most of the men, but yeah I am sure someone will bring it up. At the very least someone who thinks they are smart in doing so just because someone accused the Chinese girl.
Not that it was right of anyone to accuse the Chinese girl either.
He's 27, he's about to have a massive culture shock, he'll struggle with retirement.
Ian Thorpe's advice was to keep training after the games for 3 months rather than just suddenly stop.
I just can't see it. Phelps struggled to get back to top form after not really putting an effort for a year. To do that after two years, at an older age, would be tougher.
Men's medley relay starting right now.
Female swimmers become competitive at that age, so it's not that surprising.
another gold for Phelps, outstanding swimmer
The female and men relay win completed the USA's outrageous domination on the swimming in general.
The Americans have been insane in the pool. Agree completely with Thorpe when he said no one has dominated swimming in the way the Americans have this year. You have countries like Australia who are strong in swimming only winning 1 gold and Germany failing to even get a medal for the first time in 80 years. Utter domination.
The fact that barely any of the GB swimmers posted personal bests at the biggest event of their lives should be a cause for concern. In pretty much all the other events the brits have performed well with the crowd behind them, but all the swimmers other than the breast stroke lad have just bottled it. They should get the psychologist from the cycling team to do some work on them.
Or the Serpantine in this case.
Keri-Anne Payne swimming in the Open Water at present and up withe leading pack where she wants to be.
Keri-Anne Payne swimming in the Open Water at present and up withe leading pack where she wants to be.