express your admiration for Michael Phelps!!

síofra

What an inspiration. There is so much to be learned from his example. I'm sure I'm not the only one to think so...

Sergio

I cant agree more.i am absolutely in awe watching him swim.he has motivated me to improve as an overall good swimmer.

Truck

The man is a fish !!

síofra

Colinboy wrote: »

I cant agree more.i am absolutely in awe watching him swim.he has motivated me to improve as an overall good swimmer.

Its great to hear that you are also inspired by him!I have to add that not only is he a phenomenal swimmer but he's also a great example of what people can achieve with determination, discipline and self-belief. That goes for all Olympians, be they winners or not, but he is just so outstanding that you cannot but be in awe.

síofra

Truck wrote: »

The man is a fish !!

Did you see how long he stays under the water? It is quite unnatural alright. In one race he did nine butterfly kicks underwater compared to the others who did six!!

SantryRed

That last race.

Wow:eek:

ImDave

He's a class act, no doubt about it. Did I hear correctly somewhere that he swims 47 miles per week in training.

Macha

I dunno..I don't think he won that 7th gold. I think China wants the Games to be amazing too much & reality is being distorted. I think the other guy beat him.

Lirange

taconnol wrote: »

I dunno..

You're right.

You don't know.

mikemac

taconnol wrote: »

I dunno..I don't think he won that 7th gold. I think China wants the Games to be amazing too much & reality is being distorted. I think the other guy beat him.

You can judge the result and there was a difference of 1/100th of a second?
How is it even possible for you to do that? :eek:

Macha

Lirange wrote: »

You're right.

You don't know.

I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings because I said something negative about the untouchable Phelps? Grow up. People are allowed to have opinions that differ from yours. I also thought I'd be able to express my opinoin here without pathetic, knee-jerk responses like yours.

My point is that it was very easy to say that "technology" confirmed that Phelps won. I'm not a luddite but I am more than aware that the Chinese officials will stop at nothing to make this the biggest games ever. Let's recap on their record:

Little chinese girl? faked
52 children representing the 52 ethnic groups in China? faked
Fireworks? faked
Chinese gymnast? underage.

This is not the first time the impartiality of the the Chinese officials has been questioned at these games. (Don't cry now Lirange)

síofra

taconnol wrote: »

I dunno..I don't think he won that 7th gold. I think China wants the Games to be amazing too much & reality is being distorted. I think the other guy beat him.

I think that you're right. Even if you just look at the finish it looks like the other guy got the touch first. Do both hands have to hit the spot for it to be a finish or just one?

Macha

No just one.

sock puppet

taconnol wrote: »

I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings because I said something negative about the untouchable Phelps? Grow up. People are allowed to have opinions that differ from yours. I also thought I'd be able to express my opinoin here without pathetic, knee-jerk responses like yours.

My point is that it was very easy to say that "technology" confirmed that Phelps won. I'm not a luddite but I am more than aware that the Chinese officials will stop at nothing to make this the biggest games ever. Let's recap on their record:

Little chinese girl? faked
52 children representing the 52 ethnic groups in China? faked
Fireworks? faked
Chinese gymnast? underage.

This is not the first time the impartiality of the the Chinese officials has been questioned at these games. (Don't cry now Lirange)

There are no officials. It's an electronic timer. How could they have possibly known at the beginning of the games which lane Phelps would be drawn in and that this specific event was the one where he would have the most trouble in? But don't let logic get in the way of your mindless China-bashing. You obviously know nothing about the sport. If you swam you'd know what it's like to win or lose a race on the touch and that it is very common. Phelps has a history of winning races like this. In fact it happened last olympics too but no one questioned the Greek officials. Phelps has always come back strong. There's a psychological side to swimming too. Since Phelps is so strong coming back the race is never won right until the very end. And if someone like Cavic knows he has a big lead but also knows how strong Phelps is coming back he may start to panic and mess up the finish.

Watch the replay again and you'll see that they were both near the end of their stroke coming into the wall. Cavic decided to try and glide in whereas Phelps decided to take an extra stroke. Whether it was Phelps' experience or just dumb luck that he made the right choice the fact remains that he won.

The Serbian management even asked to have a look at the video replay to check the result as they unsure. After looking at the video which was slowed down to 10,000ths of a second they all agreed that Cavic lost fair and square.

I think that you're right. Even if you just look at the finish it looks like the other guy got the touch first. Do both hands have to hit the spot for it to be a finish or just one?

I looked at the underwater video (Theres already loads up on youtube) and Phelps definitely got the touch first. If you were to finish with one hand it would show up on the timer as a finish but the rules state that you must finish and turn with both hands. Officials watch the finish and if they see you finish with one hand they'll disqualify you.

No just one.

Again you show your ignorance

síofra

sock puppet wrote: »

There are no officials. It's an electronic timer. How could they have possibly known at the beginning of the games which lane Phelps would be drawn in and that this specific event was the one where he would have the most trouble in? But don't let logic get in the way of your mindless China-bashing. You obviously know nothing about the sport. If you swam you'd know what it's like to win or lose a race on the touch and that it is very common. Phelps has a history of winning races like this. In fact it happened last olympics too but no one questioned the Greek officials. Phelps has always come back strong. There's a psychological side to swimming too. Since Phelps is so strong coming back the race is never won right until the very end. And if someone like Cavic knows he has a big lead but also knows how strong Phelps is coming back he may start to panic and mess up the finish.

Watch the replay again and you'll see that they were both near the end of their stroke coming into the wall. Cavic decided to try and glide in whereas Phelps decided to take an extra stroke. Whether it was Phelps' experience or just dumb luck that he made the right choice the fact remains that he won.

The Serbian management even asked to have a look at the video replay to check the result as they unsure. After looking at the video which was slowed down to 10,000ths of a second they all agreed that Cavic lost fair and square.



I looked at the underwater video (Theres already loads up on youtube) and Phelps definitely got the touch first. If you were to finish with one hand it would show up on the timer as a finish but the rules state that you must finish and turn with both hands. Officials watch the finish and if they see you finish with one hand they'll disqualify you.



Again you show your ignorance

is the underwater video on the net? could you post the link? thanks!! I'd like to see it for myself as I haven't seen or heard what happened since the race.

Macha

sock puppet wrote: »

I looked at the underwater video (Theres already loads up on youtube) and Phelps definitely got the touch first. If you were to finish with one hand it would show up on the timer as a finish but the rules state that you must finish and turn with both hands. Officials watch the finish and if they see you finish with one hand they'll disqualify you.

Ok so I'm mocked for thinking that I can see the difference but other posters claim they can see and its all good?

sock puppet wrote: »

Again you show your ignorance

I was just watching a replay of the freestyle & so had that stroke in mind when I replied. I'm not ignorant about swimming. I have been swimming since I was 5 & competing since age 7. I have won many swimming medals in IM, backstroke, etc.

Look I didn't start the negative attitude in this thread. I just was putting across my opinion. There really is no need to be so nasty.

sock puppet

síofra wrote: »

is the underwater video on the net? could you post the link? thanks!! I'd like to see it for myself as I haven't seen or heard what happened since the race.

Sure here it is. Granted I can understand people's suspicion. The first time it looks like Cavic may have taken it but look at the third showing around 30 seconds and you'll see it looks like Cavic will get the finish but Phelps' hands come over the water to get the touch first. The more I think of it the more amazing it seems. To get that kind of touch was superb. I really feel for Cavic. His finish wasn't bad but Phelps' was just brilliant.

sock puppet

taconnol wrote: »

Ok so I'm mocked for thinking that I can see the difference but other posters claim they can see and its all good?


I was just watching a replay of the freestyle & so had that stroke in mind when I replied. I'm not ignorant about swimming. I have been swimming since I was 5 & competing since age 7. I have won many swimming medals in IM, backstroke, etc.

Look I didn't start the negative attitude in this thread. I just was putting across my opinion. There really is no need to be so nasty.

Okay I apologise for the condescending attitude. Even if you think that you see him touch first the timer says that Phelps won. The officials cannot influence the result unless they were to disqualify Cavic which they didn't. In what scenario can you see the officials being able to influence the result or do you think that there was just a fault with the touchpad?

síofra

sock puppet wrote: »

Sure here it is. Granted I can understand people's suspicion. The first time it looks like Cavic may have taken it but look at the third showing around 30 seconds and you'll see it looks like Cavic will get the finish but Phelps' hands come over the water to get the touch first. The more I think of it the more amazing it seems. To get that kind of touch was superb. I really feel for Cavic. His finish wasn't bad but Phelps' was just brilliant.

go raibh mile maith agat! He won it alright, and yes, it is amazing. looks like lightening striking! I'm glad he won it fairly.

sock puppet

To clarify on what I said earlier about the Serbs questioning the result, it was neither Cavic nor his coach who asked to see the replay but the Serbian olympic committee.

On a side note Ian Crocker lost out on 3rd place by 1/100th of a second also. Poor guy. Two olympics in a row that he's lost just at the finish. He must have nightmares about touchpads.

eagle eye

sock puppet wrote: »

Okay I apologise for the condescending attitude. Even if you think that you see him touch first the timer says that Phelps won. The officials cannot influence the result unless they were to disqualify Cavic which they didn't. In what scenario can you see the officials being able to influence the result or do you think that there was just a fault with the touchpad?

I've watched the swimming all week and the strangest thing happened in this one, Phelps name came up instantly as the winner and I'm not disputing that at all, but it took ages for Cavic's name to come up as second and its been instant all week so the anti-americans and conspiracy theorists were up in arms immediately roaring fix.

Edit to add I put up a poll in the sports section of the sports forum about who is 'the' superstar of the beijing olympics

Lirange

This is the best slow footage ... on a loop. It doesn't have the stop frame jerkiness.

100 Butterfly finish

Cavic is nearest.

taconnol wrote: »

I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings because I said something negative about the untouchable Phelps? Grow up.

taconnol wrote: »

This is not the first time the impartiality of the the Chinese officials has been questioned at these games. (Don't cry now Lirange)

You flatter yourself if you think I care.

Macha

sock puppet wrote: »

Okay I apologise for the condescending attitude. Even if you think that you see him touch first the timer says that Phelps won. The officials cannot influence the result unless they were to disqualify Cavic which they didn't. In what scenario can you see the officials being able to influence the result or do you think that there was just a fault with the touchpad?

Ah no worries

I wasn't 100% clear on the procedure for deciding these things at this level (suffice to say my competing wasn't at this level!). I thought they were kind of like 4th official in Rugby & decision was made in the room. TBH he's an amazing athlete & just won his 8th medal so it doesn't really matter now. My opinion was derived more from my suspicions of the impartiality of Chinese officials, rather than doubt that Phelps did it.