This Is Why I Watch The Olympics

I woke up this morning thinking about what I was going to say about what I saw last night. I then come to work and notice Ryan has beaten me to it. That should pretty much tell you how ridiculously amazing the Men's 4x100 free relay was. No pictures are needed. Ryan posted the only one that really matters, Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale celebrating just feet away from the French. Biceps flexed, abs clenched, letting out a primal scream. That's the American way. The announcer was so amped, he threw out the "who's talking now?" blast.

People who know anything about swimming in the NBC studio all said that it was the most amazing relay of all time. I say it was one of the most exciting sports experiences I've witnessed. I couldn't care less about swimming or water polo or beach volleyball but the Olympics change all that. There's something about national pride that draws people in. Consider these:

• Ryan posted about the incredible splits swam by Phelps and Lezak. It should be noted that Phelps ran the first leg, which is traditionally slower because the swimmers have to wait to hear the horn rather than see their teammates touch the wall. Bernard of France ran a blistering first 50m leg and extended his lead to .82 off the wall. Essentially Lezak gained 9 tenths of a second (he won by .08) on the world record holder in 50m.
• The U.S. team crushed the world record set by their own team (swam by Cullen Jones, and 3 swimmers who did not swim the final) in the semis. They beat the record by 4 seconds.
• 5 of the 8 teams beat the previous world record. That means the Italian and Russian teams, who did not even medal both bested the previous fastest time ever recorded.

Here's a clip: