Friday, August 19, 2016

Amazing Work by U.S. Swim Team

First off, let's congratulate them for winning 33 medals at these 2016 Rio Olympics 16 of them Gold. Michael Phelps himself, of course, after coming out of retirement no less, has one five golds and one sliver, bringing his career total to 28 medals over four Olympics, including 23 golds. Yes, the results in the pool for the U.S. swimmers are pretty awesome.

But, let's talk for a minute about the results out of the pool. Did you realize Phelps had two DUIs? Even though he doesn't seem to be hiding it, I guess I didn't. I did know about the infamous bong photo. And when people expressed disbelief, I always harkened back to the swimmers I knew in high school, who we used to joke had "swimmers lung" and thus could take the biggest hits. I other words it was no real surprise to me that Phelps was smoking pot. It obviously doesn't seem to have negatively affected his ability to swim really fast.

Of course, this whole Ryan Lochte posse thing at the Rio Games sheds new light on the US Swim Team's partying. Unfortunately, it really makes the guys involved come off like assholes. In their defense, it seems they were truly drunk after attending a part at the French Olympic house. Yes, those damn French. Who could expect a bunch of naive American swimmers to keep up with them? Then again, Lochte seems to have a bit of a party history: There is this Las Vegas race with Prince Harry. Then, there was this failed reality show, ominously titled, "What would Ryan Lochte Do?" Apparently just about anything.

Then, there is this guy: 35-year old Anthony Ervin who won gold at the 2000 Olympics and then again this year. In between he apparently smoked cigarettes, took acid, and rode a motorcycle really fast in an apparent attempt to kill himself.

So, there you have it - what could possibly be the most successful swim team in Olympic history, punctuated by a least a few individuals who are not afraid to color outside the lines at times. Not sure what this says. Does partying and being an elite swimmer go hand in hand? Are the U.S. training methods so great that our swimmers can win despite their out-of-the-pool forays? Is all this irrelevant? I don't know, but I know I like to swim, especially in open water and it's been a great summer for that. And that Usain Bolt can really run - and he's from Jamaica...

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