2016 Rio Olympics | SWIMMING | August 6th thru August 13th | NBC/CBC |

[EC09]

NBC just showed the dual anthems.

 

[EC09]

If so, it likely would have taken too long to even out the height of the two top flags, in this rarest of occasions (tie for first).

If Global GUTS on Nick could do it, I'd like to think the Olympics could too.

 

[offkilter]

NBC just showed the dual anthems.

Poor Swedish girl at the begining when they took their places is like "Can I hug too?".

 

[Cody Webster]

pretty cool. Ravens stopped their game and played the Phelps race on the scoreboard

http://dailysnark.com/ravens-stop-preseason-game-fans-can-watch-phelps-race-scoreboard/

 

[Dr Pepper]

Poor Swedish girl at the begining when they took their places is like "Can I hug too?".

I think she knew she had to wait for the top two to get their photos in, for the media, before she jumped on and joined them.

 

[Sens Rule]

I'm not usually one to complain but during the medal ceremony it did piss me off that they placed the Canadian flag UNDER the American one instead of side by side like they usually do when there's a tie and it looked like the US beat Canada. Playing the US anthem first was less of an issue for me, but to not put the Canadian flag equal with the American one really irked me.

Made me wish Penny could've swam just a tiny bit faster to have the podium all to herself.

Loved it he two tears that went down each cheek from the American swimmer sang the anthem. Penny was not as emotional... You could see her barely mouthing the words to the anthem.

Also the hug between the medalists and the kinda weird group hug with the Aussie medalist. Liked that the Aussie medalist seemed genuinely happy even though she might have thought she could have got gold.

Really didn't care about the flags or anything at all.

 

[Know Your Enemy]

All of Canada will be going to bed with a smile on their face tonight for sure. I still am having trouble believing this is actually happening

Happy Birthday, by the way!

Thanks. Hopefully what happened tonight will help alleviate my hangover tomorrow

 

[GQS]

Didn't even notice.

I'm assuming they raised all three flags as the anthems played?

If so, it likely would have taken too long to even out the height of the two top flags, in this rarest of occasions (tie for first).

I did notice Simone got announced first, and they played the US anthem first. I really doubt Penny cared all that much, though.

Yes they raised all three flags as the American anthem played and then they played the Canadian anthem. Don't know why it would've been a big deal for them to have a contingency plan for just such an occurrence where swimmers might tie for a medal.

It just looked DUMB and even kinda insulting that even the third place Swedish flag was above 1st place Canada.

 

[Kurtz]

Loved it he two tears that went down each cheek from the American swimmer sang the anthem. Penny was not as emotional... You could see her barely mouthing the words to the anthem.

Also the hug between the medalists and the kinda weird group hug with the Aussie medalist. Liked that the Aussie medalist seemed genuinely happy even though she might have thought she could have got gold.

Really didn't care about the flags or anything at all.

Sjostrom of Sweden took bronze, I believe.

 

[Captain Bowie]

Sjostrom of Sweden took bronze, I believe.

Yup. I was the Aussie who was leading at the turn and got passed by the winner(s) on either side of her, as well as Sjostrom for Bronze.

 

[Sens Rule]

Sjostrom of Sweden took bronze, I believe.

You are right. I meant her.

 

[JaysCyYoung]

Bitter? We have like 20 gold medals in the pool already. Congrats on your first?

Happy for Penny though. Good for her

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you are tempering people's excitement here by detracting from a historic Canadian performance with your dismissiveness? The United States is a massive nation with 320 million people and a gargantuan sporting infrastructure. You're expected to dominate the Olympucs - both Summer and Winter - and to your credit, you do.

But this is a massive story in Canada. Penny has already become our most decorated Summer Olympian in our nation's history and she's just sixteen years old. I saw the results at the gym and started yelling out of joy. She's a national sensation here. So try and be a little understanding of that. This is our best Olympics in the pool arguably ever. Let Canadians celebrate and enjoy our success.

 

[JaysCyYoung]

She's 16 years old, she just won her fourth Olympic medal of these games, and her first Gold.

We've got every right to be ecstatic about her performance thus far. It's been mentioned several times that Canada usually doesn't fare especially well in the pool; Penny is now our most accomplished Olympic swimmer, I believe.

So we could do without the condescending "USA is better lol" rhetoric, that's all. No one's debating American dominance in the pool, you don't have to remind us at every turn.

This perfectly summarizes my feelings. Canada has not had an overwhelming amount of success in the pool historically - at least not the level of success that the historic powers from the United States, Australia, and Hungary have enjoyed. It's only natural that Canadians are going to be excited and celebrating the best performance by Canadian women in the pool probably ever.

I'm proud of Simone Manual as well. She broke a major barrier tonight given the turbulent history of race relations in the United States. I cheer for American athletes in many disciplines as well and tend to be vocally supportive of Americans in general. It's just irritating to see a small number of people who wouldn't even notice if they lost a bunch of medals try and temper the happiness of Canadian fans who don't have nearly as much to cheer about in the pool.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

I love when they introduced her and they said from whatever her high school's name is.

Love her reaction waiting and looking at the clock. Just amazing.

Right? I think she had a similar reaction after her silver medal in the 100m Fly too. The thing that strikes me about her is she's incredibly humble and grounded. No ego, genuine and such a good sportswoman. A national treasure.

 

[Sens Rule]

Right? I think she had a similar reaction after her silver medal in the 100m Fly too. The thing that strikes me about her is she's incredibly humble and grounded. No ego, genuine and such a good sportswoman. A national treasure.

It is way easier to NOT be the favourite, or expected to win. She is just a kid and is like wow! I am at the Olympics and I am just going to swim as hard as I can and do my best. It is amazing... However to actually BE a favourite and an adult and have your entire career based on a week every four years is another animal. That is why Phelps just winning all the time is crazy. To win, when you keep being expected to win is super hard.

Next Olympics she will still only be 20 years old though, and will have a gold and at least 4 medals already... So I doubt the pressure will get to her too badly in the future.

I don't even know what I am saying... Just saying she likely feels not much pressure to do anything now. She is a child. She doesn't have to care about money... Or her place in the sport. It is like a Disney movie. You just turn 16 and then you are in the Olympics and you keep winning medals just swimming as good as you can. No pressure. No stress.

I bet the medal ceremony tonight was way more stressful to her then the race itself. Not knowing what to do. Standing there so long with the world focussed on her.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

They should've had a swim off for gold. Double gold medalists doesn't make sense. It goes against the spirit of competition.

Also, why is no one talking about a 21 year old sweeping the backstrokes? There are only 3 others who've won 2 or more individual golds in the swimming events so far this Olympics, and those three are Phelps, Ledecky and Hosszu who are all talked about a lot.

No one talks about the next swimming star for the USA. People should start looking past Phelps and Lochte. They both are likely done after this Olympics. Murphy represents the future of USA swimming.

 

[Eisen]

They should've had a swim off for gold. Double gold medalists doesn't make sense. It goes against the spirit of competition.

I really don't see it. If anything, it's right in the spirit of competition.

 

[Sens Rule]

They should've had a swim off for gold. Double gold medalists doesn't make sense. It goes against the spirit of competition.

Also, why is no one talking about a 21 year old sweeping the backstrokes? There are only 3 others who've won 2 or more individual golds in the swimming events so far this Olympics, and those three are Phelps, Ledecky and Hosszu who are all talked about a lot.

No one talks about the next swimming star for the USA. People should start looking past Phelps and Lochte. They both are likely done after this Olympics. Murphy represents the future of USA swimming.

It is measured to the hundredth of a second. A tie is totally fine. They literally tied... To a hundredth of a second. If they want to eliminate ties measure it to a ten thousandth of a second. But they don't even need to do that. You would literally be getting down to how far away each lane is from the sound to start the race and how fast the speed of sound is for the athletes to hear it from a few more meters away.

You don't have a silver. You get two gold. Measured so close that it is really useless to measure further.

An actual race with 8 people in it is not something that you can just redo the next day and say it is the same thing. In many sports you just play a little longer to break a tie. In swimming that does not make sense. I bet both medalists and both countries could care less about sharing the gold. It doesn't diminish either athlete at all.

Anyway. Totally disagree with you.

 

[Miamipuck]

I am fine with the tie, they both swam their ***** off and the final clock said they swam the same time, there's nothing arbitrary involved. A swim off so soon after the final is ridiculous, they're both tired and gave it their all, it actually would be less fair in my opinion. They got it right.

 

[Filppula]

Australia's swim team was apparently out for redemption at these Olympics. Turns out they're choking again. Absolutely pathetic. Cate Campbell's capitulation in the second 50 is one of the most painful sights I've seen. She totally fell apart, was swimming on the spot. Incredible.

So disappointed. Larkin, McEvoy, Seebohm, Campbell, all failed.

 

[CapSpace]

Jamie Oleksiak should take notes from her sister to how to not choke when you reach the summit. Great performance for that young woman, grest future for sure !

 

[Sens Rule]

Australia's swim team was apparently out for redemption at these Olympics. Turns out they're choking again. Absolutely pathetic. Cate Campbell's capitulation in the second 50 is one of the most painful sights I've seen. She totally fell apart, was swimming on the spot. Incredible.

So disappointed. Larkin, McEvoy, Seebohm, Campbell, all failed.

These are top level athletes. Getting beaten is not a failure. They got beaten by other great athletes. Australia is a top notch athletics and swimming country. All their athletes got the money and training needed... And they just didn't win. Not a failure. Not a choke. Top level, best trained athletes sometimes finish 5th or 6th. It is just what happens.

 

[KapG]

These are top level athletes. Getting beaten is not a failure. They got beaten by other great athletes. Australia is a top notch athletics and swimming country. All their athletes got the money and training needed... And they just didn't win. Not a failure. Not a choke. Top level, best trained athletes sometimes finish 5th or 6th. It is just what happens.

No, they are definitely choking again

 

[Daisy Jane]

regarding ties in swimming - there is a reason why they wait to post the official list. (and again that's why CBC/NBC was confused) They actually check the race tape and ensure that in fact they touched AT The same time. I've seen ties broken and by the smallest of seconds.

Again, if you watch the race - by Simone Manuels name she has the OR by her name, and that's it. Penny's name had #1.

the perfect reactions is looking at Penny's family.
Mom + Sister were looking at Penny and freaked out.
Jamie + Dad looked at the scoreboard and were confused. Note they both looked away to the pool. then Mom and the sister looked at the board and freaked out. they must have posted the list then, and then Mom hugs Dad and Hilary is hugging Jamie and it's like ohhh.

or even listening to the two broadcasts. NBC + CBC had no clue it was officially a tie until about 3 minutes of breaking down the race. They both went IT'S A TIE in that shocked, "this is cool." voice.

There doesn't need to be a "swim off" or anything like that. they tied. they checked, and it's official. that's all we need to know.

 

[Daisy Jane]

These are top level athletes. Getting beaten is not a failure. They got beaten by other great athletes. Australia is a top notch athletics and swimming country. All their athletes got the money and training needed... And they just didn't win. Not a failure. Not a choke. Top level, best trained athletes sometimes finish 5th or 6th. It is just what happens.

Australia doing what they are doing - is like Canada finishing 6th the world juniors, or at Torino. it's not good. and it's not expected

They are also not swimming well. They'll be the first to tell you that. I wonder if a good chunk of it they had the crappiest time in Rio (their house burned down, things have been stolen, etc).

Cait Campbell was expected to win, everyone has talked about her tendency to just fall apart in races, and she said she was working on it, and she imploded again last night.

Like I said I think we do throw out the word choke way too casually on this board - but sometimes it's applicable, especially considering how much they pumped into their programme after NOT finishing well in London, this is a disaster for them.