Olympics

A tribute to the best swimmer of our time.

A class above the rest, a god amongst men, a name that will be immortalized in history past, the present, and histories yet to be written - Michael Phelps.

I saw history being written today, at slightly past 10am on this bright saturday morning. Beamed live from China's Water Cube, I saw the olympian take his seventh gold, and set his seventh Olympic record. (The first six were world records and world records are olympic records, but not neccessarily the other way around) I'm sure many of you have heard of this before, but exactly how much is 0.01 second worth to the olympian? Well, the question has just been answered today, it is the difference between Gold and Silver, a First and a First-runners-up, a Champion and a Hero.

A note to all those who have not seen the footage of the 100m Butterfly Men's Final - go watch it. Maybe it is purely by luck and chance, but the way the strokes end up is beautiful. One man's last reach for the gold to defeat the giant, and the giant's arms flippers coming from behind to hit the board that'll stop time, and start a legacy.

The olympics is prestigious, it is widely recognised, but the system may seem flawed. Contestants are given only one chance to perform, it is do or die. And maybe this is what makes it beautiful, when humans give their best, when people strive all out to achieve their dreams. One chance every four years, and that is if you qualify and not make any mistakes during the trials and heats. Make a mistake and it is four years gone, make two and it is a shame, make three and your whole career and hopes and dreams are gone. The olympics tolerate nothing but the best, and the best shall show themselves to the world.

Detractors would say he did not set a seventh world record, he only set six thus far, and he should not be revered and respected as much as he currently is. But I say it does not matter, I know a champion when I see one. Being hailed as a great sportsman is similar to proving a truth in science, all it takes is just one failure for everything to fall apart. The law of gravity is a law, as nothing substantial has proven it wrong thus far, but all it needs is for one phenomenon to consistently break this law for the whole law to fall apart. Similarly, a great sportsman is great as long as he doesnt make a mistake, and show his human side. Roger Federer was considered the best, till he made some mistakes recently and lost to some relatively low ranked guy. However, for now, Michael Phelps remains as the best in swimming. He has won gold in every single event he has taken part in, set multiple world records, and by multiple I mean all except one. When people compete against him, they do not only compete against themselves, they compete against this man.

As a note, it is quite interesting and humourous to see the impeccably dressed men in awesome blue suits stand at the end of the swimming pool to ring bells at the swimmers to tell them that it is their last lap. O the horror/hilarity if one of them would trip and fall in, I await the day that it happens.