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Good god...
Mar. 28th, 2007 09:25 pmOk. Michael Phelps, owner of the seven fastest 200 butterfly swims in history, broke his own world record last night in Melbourne at the world Championships. By 1.62 seconds. The silver medal went to someone more than 3 seconds behind him.
Lemme 'splain. Your typical world record-- hell, even a "personal best" for a competitive swimmer-- moves down by hundredths of a second. The modern records may be much lower than a few decades ago, but those improvements came in tiny increments over dozens of individual record holders. This is the swimming equivalent of Secretariat at the Belmont.
And Phelps makes it look trivial. His fly stroke is a thing of impossible grace; he looks like he is swimming slower, and with less effort, than anyone else in the pool. See for yourself (pity about the very excitable announcers):
Lemme 'splain. Your typical world record-- hell, even a "personal best" for a competitive swimmer-- moves down by hundredths of a second. The modern records may be much lower than a few decades ago, but those improvements came in tiny increments over dozens of individual record holders. This is the swimming equivalent of Secretariat at the Belmont.
And Phelps makes it look trivial. His fly stroke is a thing of impossible grace; he looks like he is swimming slower, and with less effort, than anyone else in the pool. See for yourself (pity about the very excitable announcers):
