Before these Olympics, Gary Hall Jr. brashly predicted the United States would smash Australia “like a guitar” in the swimming competition.
After the Australians sent the Americans to their first men’s relay loss in history on the first day, Aussie star Michael Klim stood on the pool deck and played air guitar in a little trash pantomiming. The gesture said: How dare these Yanks come into our back yard–into our back-yard pool–and be so bold?
Answer: Because they knew what they were talking about.
The U.S. still is the dominant swimming nation in the world, and if the Australians aren’t all splintered wood and broken guitar strings by now, they are at least in need of some mental repair work.
The proof of it is in the final medal count and in what happened Saturday in the final day of the swimming competition. The U.S. won 33 medals (14 gold, eight silver and 11 bronze) to the Aussies’ 17 (five gold, eight silver, four bronze).
The exclamation point came Saturday, when the U.S. won both the men’s and women’s 4×100-meter medley relay in world-record time. The men’s team of Lenny Krayzelburg, Ed Moses, Ian Crocker and Hall won in 3 minutes 33.73 seconds, beating the old record by more than a second. The women’s team of B.J. Bedford, Megan Quann, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres was even better, shattering the old record by more than three seconds. They came home in 3:58.30, more than three seconds ahead of the second-place Australians.
“That’s where the big difference is, in that incredible depth,” said Australian star Kieren Perkins, who won a silver medal in the men’s 1,500 freestyle Saturday.
Before the Olympics began, there was little talk of Americans dominating anything.
“When you’re faced with a worthy opponent, it forces you to get your act together, step up,” Hall said. “We were able to use that threat of being dethroned as the best swimming nation as motivation to reach a level that otherwise we might not have reached.”
The numbers are impressive. The 33 total medals tied for the fourth most in Olympic swimming history and tied for the most since countries were limited to two entrants per event (1984). The 14 gold medals are the most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1972.
Poor Mark Spitz. The U.S. swimming legend had predicted before these Games that U.S. women might not win any individual gold. They won four. In all, they won 16 medals. Spitz might not want to become a psychic.
“We have a lot of heart to swim with, tremendous spirit,” Jenny Thompson said. “Mark should have known better. He was a part of that spirit and a part of that heart.”
This meet also will be remembered for the 15 world records that fell. It was almost an upset when Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands didn’t set one in winning the 50 freestyle Saturday. She had broken her own world record in the event during the semifinals. Torres won a bronze medal.
Australia’s Grant Hackett, who had been struggling going into the finals of the 1,500, found his form Saturday, much to the relief of a nation. Hackett beat Perkins to win the gold medal. American Chris Thompson was a surprising third.
It is that national obsession that will help Australians continue to reel in the Americans, Hackett said.
But despite progress by other nations–18 different countries won medals–the U.S. still owns the pool. The bulk of the international media attention went to de Bruijn and her Dutch teammate, Pieter van den Hoogenband, as well as to 17-year-old Australian star Ian Thorpe. But those were snapshots. The group picture features the U.S team with lots of smiling faces.
“We have come and dominated the waters,” Hall said.
Anyone have a guitar?
