happiest, was that I had dominated in breaststroke. All the practice, the focus, the effort on the breast had paid off. Cseh was more than three-tenths of a second slower over that 100 meters; Lochteâs breast leg was more than a second behind mine.
I had ripped through the first 50 in the breast in 34.77. That was a lifetime best. I came back in 35.79. Not a negative split but still, it got me to 300 right at 3:07.
Wow.
On and around the pool deck, my world-record time instantaneously generated an enormous buzz. I had become the only man in history to have broken the world record in winning both my Olympic 400 IM golds.
Eddie Reese, our U.S. menâs head coach, told reporters, âWe just donât know how good that is. If somebody ten or fifteen years ago would have said the 400 IM will be won in 2008 in 4:03.8, Iâd have bet everything I had or would ever get that it wouldnât happen.â
As soon as Bob finished telling me the swim was awesome, he reverted to coach mode. He actually had visualized himself how he would coach at this exact moment, not getting overly excited over any one race.
Even though, as we talked about later, he was also thinking to himself that it may really be hard for Michael to get beat.
On the medals stand a little while after the race, the American flags, along with the Hungarian one, went up, just like in Athens. But no wreath this time.
As the flags were lifted up into the rafters, as âThe Star-Spangled Bannerâ played, my eyes started watering. For me, this was a rare public show of emotion. I couldnât help it, didnât want to help it. I was thinking of all the ups and downs I had weathered since Athens, how hard I had worked, the sacrifices that had been made by so many to help get me to just this moment.
I so appreciated all of it.
I thought to myself: Sing. Sing out the national anthem there on the podium. But I couldnât stop crying.
Bob got teary-eyed, too, glad there was no camera on him.
Just when it looked like I might start sobbing or something, as the anthem reached ââ¦the home of the brave,â the music accidentally cut off.
All I could do was laugh.
And think: seven more chances, maybe, for the Chinese to get the American anthem right.
2
B ELIEF: T HE 400 F REE R ELAY
Bob is not the most technologically advanced individual. He has, however, discovered a little something on the Internet called Google. This was, for him, a major advance. Now he could read almost anything and everything written about me, and us, and about swimming in general.
I donât bother reading much, if any, of it. It can seem overwhelming.
Bob is not overwhelmed. He loves fishing for stories. And he not only reads but remembers what was said.
I won the 400 IM on Sunday morning, the 10th. Because the schedule was flippedâfinals in the morning, prelims and heats often at nightâthe Sunday night schedule included the heats of the 400 free relay. I didnât swim in those heats; instead, I raced in the prelims of the 200 freestyle.
At major swim meets such as the Olympics, the guys who swim the prelims for the American team are not the same fourguys who swim the final. There are good reasons for that. One, the prelim saves the guys in the finals lineup from the exertion of an added race. And, two, the prelims give more guys a chance to make the Olympic team, with the bonus that if the finals guys win a medal, the prelim swimmers get that medal, too. So, for instance, a winning swim in the finals means a gold medal not just for those four guys but for each of the prelim swimmers, too. It works the same way in track and field. The prelim guys get a medal if the finals guys do.
At the U.S. Olympic Trials, the prospect of being on the relays makes the 100 and 200 freestyle races that much more exciting. The top two finishers earn the right to swim in the individual event at the Games as well as the relay; for example, the 100 winner
I had ripped through the first 50 in the breast in 34.77. That was a lifetime best. I came back in 35.79. Not a negative split but still, it got me to 300 right at 3:07.
Wow.
On and around the pool deck, my world-record time instantaneously generated an enormous buzz. I had become the only man in history to have broken the world record in winning both my Olympic 400 IM golds.
Eddie Reese, our U.S. menâs head coach, told reporters, âWe just donât know how good that is. If somebody ten or fifteen years ago would have said the 400 IM will be won in 2008 in 4:03.8, Iâd have bet everything I had or would ever get that it wouldnât happen.â
As soon as Bob finished telling me the swim was awesome, he reverted to coach mode. He actually had visualized himself how he would coach at this exact moment, not getting overly excited over any one race.
Even though, as we talked about later, he was also thinking to himself that it may really be hard for Michael to get beat.
On the medals stand a little while after the race, the American flags, along with the Hungarian one, went up, just like in Athens. But no wreath this time.
As the flags were lifted up into the rafters, as âThe Star-Spangled Bannerâ played, my eyes started watering. For me, this was a rare public show of emotion. I couldnât help it, didnât want to help it. I was thinking of all the ups and downs I had weathered since Athens, how hard I had worked, the sacrifices that had been made by so many to help get me to just this moment.
I so appreciated all of it.
I thought to myself: Sing. Sing out the national anthem there on the podium. But I couldnât stop crying.
Bob got teary-eyed, too, glad there was no camera on him.
Just when it looked like I might start sobbing or something, as the anthem reached ââ¦the home of the brave,â the music accidentally cut off.
All I could do was laugh.
And think: seven more chances, maybe, for the Chinese to get the American anthem right.
2
B ELIEF: T HE 400 F REE R ELAY
Bob is not the most technologically advanced individual. He has, however, discovered a little something on the Internet called Google. This was, for him, a major advance. Now he could read almost anything and everything written about me, and us, and about swimming in general.
I donât bother reading much, if any, of it. It can seem overwhelming.
Bob is not overwhelmed. He loves fishing for stories. And he not only reads but remembers what was said.
I won the 400 IM on Sunday morning, the 10th. Because the schedule was flippedâfinals in the morning, prelims and heats often at nightâthe Sunday night schedule included the heats of the 400 free relay. I didnât swim in those heats; instead, I raced in the prelims of the 200 freestyle.
At major swim meets such as the Olympics, the guys who swim the prelims for the American team are not the same fourguys who swim the final. There are good reasons for that. One, the prelim saves the guys in the finals lineup from the exertion of an added race. And, two, the prelims give more guys a chance to make the Olympic team, with the bonus that if the finals guys win a medal, the prelim swimmers get that medal, too. So, for instance, a winning swim in the finals means a gold medal not just for those four guys but for each of the prelim swimmers, too. It works the same way in track and field. The prelim guys get a medal if the finals guys do.
At the U.S. Olympic Trials, the prospect of being on the relays makes the 100 and 200 freestyle races that much more exciting. The top two finishers earn the right to swim in the individual event at the Games as well as the relay; for example, the 100 winner
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