Swimming, Diving, Water Polo - Live from the Aquatics Centre!

[chitowngirl]

The silver medalist was ecstatic. The gold medalist upset he didn’t set WR 🙄

[ferjy]

I worried about Penny, this isn't her forté, but she showed me.

 

[Lady Whistleup]

I really hope NBC doesn't act like Katie Ledecky had a "poor" race because this wasn't really her race. Her forte is the 800m and 1500m.

[Sarahsmile416]

Just now, Lady Whistleup said:

I really hope NBC doesn't act like Katie Ledecky had a "poor" race because this wasn't really her race. Her forte is the 800m and 1500m.

Oh they did.  Their commentary was that “she didn’t have it”.  
 

I really hate NBC 

[ferjy]

Ha, Penny... "I was just in so much pain". A veiled hint to the interviewer to let her go and rest. lol

 

[purist]

Ariarne Titmus is breathtakingly good. Her last 15 metres was ridiculous!

In other news, Tom Daley has knitted a pouch for his gold medal. I may die from the cuteness.

[Jeddah]

12 minutes ago, purist said:

In other news, Tom Daley has knitted a pouch for his gold medal. I may die from the cuteness.

OMG, that is adorable.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Jeddah

[ferjy]

23 minutes ago, purist said:

Ariarne Titmus is breathtakingly good. Her last 15 metres was ridiculous!

In other news, Tom Daley has knitted a pouch for his gold medal. I may die from the cuteness.

Adorkable. 😁

 

[SeanC]

Ah, the individual medley, that most masochistic of events.

[Daisy]

Can you please stop putting China and Canada next to each other?! 
LET'S GO SYDNEY! LET'S GO KATINA!

JAPAN WINS GOLD! woooooooo!!!

Pickrem was 6th. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Daisy

[AimingforYoko]

Damn, that was a race. Holy crap.

[Dots And Stripes]

That's sweet to see the two friends finish second and third. 

Also, I would like to let Rowdy know that I was watching Douglas. That seems very important to him.

[ferjy]

4 minutes ago, Daisy said:

Can you please stop putting China and Canada next to each other?!

lol We need a big maple leaf on the backs of our swimmers.

 

[Daisy]

1500m time! 
no Canadians this time... so I shall be Australian! Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!

[Dots And Stripes]

This is such a long race NBC is giving us Katie's life story while she swims.

[LexieLily]

Oh, come on, NBC, can't you do this slideshow about Katie any other time that's not during the race?

Edited July 28, 2021 by LexieLily

[Daisy]

well geeze. Ledecky is a body length away from the silver medal swimmer. so this is totally her race. Australia is no where to be found (sorry I cursed you Australia lol)

[ferjy]

3 minutes ago, Daisy said:

1500m time! 
no Canadians this time... so I shall be Australian! Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!

I'm rooting for China. I do half the time anyway by mistake so feels like I'm cheering on Canada. 😄

 

[ferjy]

4 minutes ago, Daisy said:

well geeze. Ledecky is a body length away from the silver medal swimmer. so this is totally her race. Australia is no where to be found (sorry I cursed you Australia lol)

Yeah, Aussies, you're in the in the southern hemisphere, you should be swimming like fish!

 

[ferjy]

10 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Oh, come on, NBC, can't you do this slideshow about Katie any other time that's not during the race?

I hate when they do that. I'm still peeved at CBC for running a ton of athlete bits and cutting out the pictogram performance in the opening ceremony.

 

[Chaser]

I’m so happy for Ledecky. And Sullivan!

[AimingforYoko]

1-2 finish. I think Ledecky's more excited about Sullivan 'cause she knew she had this race on lock.

[greyhorse]

12 hours ago, blackwing said:

 

I don't think he's good at all.  And I don't think his interviews with Mike Tirico are any better.  I know it's not entirely his fault because Tirico steered the conversation there, but a good bit of what I saw was just the two of them rehashing how Phelps felt during one of his relay races.  Phelps seemed better at recapping his own relay race than what he actually is supposed to be doing, that is, commenting on the current races and adding insight and value about the current Olympians.

Agree with this.  Is he doing any play by play at all?  Or is it all Rowdy Gaines?  All I've seen him do is the interviews with Mike Tirico on the little patio in front of the water.  He's not going to unseat Gaines even if he is the great Michael Phelps.  So if he's not calling the actual races, all he can talk about is his experience as an athlete.  Which we've all heard about already and witnessed.  The focus should be on the people actually in the water, not on what Phelps accomplished in the past.  It's great that they were able to get Phelps to contribute, but I'm hoping that he'll be better utilized the next go around.

1500M.  Why isn't it 1600?  100-200-400-800-...1500?  Ledecky with the win.  All is right with swimming now.  And congrats to Sullivan who came on strong in the last quarter of the race.

[irisheyes]

I’m glad Sullivan finished 2nd because it gave Rowdy and Dan something to get excited about. (Cause, let’s be honest, me, you, and my cats knew Ledecky was winning that race. 😂)

[Lady Whistleup]

1500 is a thing because it's exactly one mile. Congratulations Katie!

[AimingforYoko]

2 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

1500M.  Why isn't it 1600?

1500m is considered the "metric mile".

[ferjy]

Of all times for China to suddenly fall behind, it has to be when I'm cheering them on. 🤨

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ferjy

[LexieLily]

Why is the bullhorn blaring constantly in this race???

[Chaser]

In the Phelps commentary discussion, he lacks polish and sounds nervous. He needs experience.

[emmawoodhouse]

Why isn't Dressell  in the relay?

[Chaser]

They need Dressel for this.

Who decides the racers? 

[SeanC]

And Apple throws it away.

Just now, Chaser said:

They need Dressel for this.

Who decides the racers? 

It depends on (a) whether the federation wants them and then (b) whether they want to participate.

[emmawoodhouse]

I'm assuming this was Caeleb's call, because the fed would definitely have wanted him in this race.

[ferjy]

8 minutes ago, Chaser said:

In the Phelps commentary discussion, he lacks polish and sounds nervous. He needs experience.

Not the overconfident arrogant so-and-so he was in competition. 😄

 

[emmawoodhouse]

2 minutes ago, ferjy said:

Not the overconfident arrogant so-and-so he was in competition. 😄

 

He backed it up. 😃

[katisha]

Even though my Aussie team beat them into the bronze medal, I still feel a bit sad for the US 4 x 200 team. They looked gutted. 😞 But what a brilliant effort from the Brits!

[greyhorse]

13 minutes ago, Chaser said:

In the Phelps commentary discussion, he lacks polish and sounds nervous. He needs experience.

He just doesn't have much to add other than things like "he needs to pick it up".  He did make a nice comment about "lengthening the stroke and reaching", which even me as a noncompetitive swimmer understands.  He has a long way to go before replacing Gaines.

5 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I'm assuming this was Caeleb's call, because the fed would definitely have wanted him in this race.

Maybe he knew the team wasn't going to be competitive, and he'd rather save himself for the other races?  

Kudos to GB, they had a ton of firepower like Phelps said.

[ferjy]

4 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

He backed it up. 😃

There's a lot to be said for humility, even when you're the best. 😀

 

[Chaser]

8 minutes ago, ferjy said:

Not the overconfident arrogant so-and-so he was in competition. 😄

 

I don’t remember him being like in competition. I remember him saying he didn’t trash talk, he let his swims do the talking. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Chaser

[emmawoodhouse]

1 minute ago, ferjy said:

There's a lot to be said for humility, even when you're the best. 😀

 

 

1 minute ago, Chaser said:

I don’t remember him being like in competition. I remember him saying he didn’t trash talk, he let his swims do the talking. 

This! 😃

[ferjy]

7 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Maybe he knew the team wasn't going to be competitive, and he'd rather save himself for the other races?  

I was surprised Ledecky didn't do the same and swam the 400m at all rather than save herself for the 1500m that she excels at.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ferjy

[ferjy]

12 minutes ago, Chaser said:

I don’t remember him being like in competition. I remember him saying he didn’t trash talk, he let his swims do the talking. 

Half the population complained about his arrogance! Even the commentators "joked" about it.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ferjy

[selkie]

16 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I was surprised Ledecky didn't do the same and swam the 400m at all rather than save herself for the 1500m that she excels at.

 

She's the world record holder and defending champion in the 400M free. Why  wouldn't she swim it? 

Ledecky's hit the point of her career where she's very aware of her own legacy and place in the sport's history- the litany of American distance women who had come before her who didn't get to swim an Olympic final in the 1500M free was very heartfelt- and she seems to be wanting to mentor the next generation who's going to follow in that great tradition. 

Nice to hear Rowdy Gaines give Tracy Caulkins a shout-out tonight- she was amazing and I think the only woman to fin a US national championship in every stroke plus the IMs. Unfortunately her peak was right around 1980. 

[Chaser]

18 minutes ago, ferjy said:

Half the population complained about his arrogance! Even the commentators "joked" about it.

 

Guess I’m with the other half of the population. 

[twoods]

Michael Phelps has won 28 Olympic medals- no one will fault him for being arrogant.

[Dots And Stripes]

3 minutes ago, twoods said:

Michael Phelps has won 28 Olympic medals- no one will fault him for being arrogant.

Apparently some people will. I always thought he was a respectful competitor. Yes he thought he was a great swimmer… because he was a really, really great swimmer and competitor.

I think the issue with his commentary is it sounds very insider-y. The best commentators know how to teach the audience about the sport. He’ll figure out a better level of technical talk with more practice. 

[choclatechip45]

I don't mind Phelps commentating and my expectations were super low. I think he was better during the IM swims though. 

[purist]

11 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I think the issue with his commentary is it sounds very insider-y. The best commentators know how to teach the audience about the sport.

Here in Australia, obviously I haven't heard Phelps' commentary, but we are very fortunate in that we have Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones doing special comments. They are both superb, particularly Thorpey. I remember he was on the British commentary team for London 2012 and everyone loved him - now I can see why. He is exceptionally good, and has a wonderful vocal tone that makes you wish he could read you bedtime stories! Yesterday during the heats for the men's 200m freestyle relay, he explained in detail what is needed during a relay changeover and how swimmers train for it. It was outstanding.

[SeanC]

4x200 m preliminaries, the time for the B-squad to jockey for spots in the main event.

[healthnut]

8 hours ago, Chaser said:

In the Phelps commentary discussion, he lacks polish and sounds nervous. He needs experience.

He’s definitely best during the side by side chats with Tirico but considering this is his first real opportunity in the booth, I think he’s doing fine. Granted my expectations were pretty low, I expected him to be pretty dry but I’ve enjoyed him. I’ve enjoyed Elizabeth Beisel, too. She’s got a great personality.