In the following Olympics things got a lot more tense. The Supersuits arrived and all
the world records were falling. I immediately chose my favorites to win the 4 x 100 relay.
My options were, the creators of this beautiful sport, the defending champions of the title,
the country of my ancestors, the nation of swimmers, the country with the best swimmer
who was about to make history, or the country with the fastest men in the world including
the triple world record breaker. I chose the country where I was living and swimming at
the time, France. Amaury Leveaux, Fabien Gilot, Fred Bousquet and Alain Bernard were my number
one pick.
The most important thing for the swimmers in the relay is the starting order. In Fred's
words, they had agreed on the order several weeks in advanced. They had been training
relay exchanges with that in mind. Amaury was not very athletic and had not dominated
the relay start, so he would go first. Remember when Michael Klim broke the world record in
Sydney 2000? Fred Bousquet watched Popov's face of defeat when he saw that record and
learned that it was not a good idea to let the star of the relay freak out over the other
teams' swimming times.
So he suggested putting Olympic rookie and star of the relay, Alain Bernard, second so
he couldn't freak out. Fabien Gilot already had experience in that position so he would
go in third place. The one with the most experienced would anchor the relay, Fred Bousquet. In
a move of marketing and arrogance, the people in charge of the French team wanted Alain
to finish the relay so they could show a nice victory photo finish with their swim star.
They changed the order of the relay minutes before without consulting the swimmers. Fred
says that for a few minutes he felt disoriented and angry. He talked to his coach at the time
Brett Hawke and helped him refocus on the goal. Swim as fast as possible.
The relay started with the most impressive
times to date. Canadian Brent Hayden missed the world record by 4 hundredths of a second.
Michael Phelps was one hundredth of a second away from breaking it. But it was the lane
next to him that Eamon Sullivan from Australia followed the tradition of starting the event
with a world record. The French team started in 4th place. Then, Fabien Gilot left the
French team in second place. Fred Bousquet did his part and handed Alain the relay in
first place with a half body-length lead. The fastest man in the world jumped to the
pool half a second before his rivals. Out of the millions of witnesses, only one individual
knew who would win that race.
In 2000, Jason Lezak had gained the lead for his relay and lost it in the last few meters.
In 2004 Jason Lezak had lost a body length lead in the final meters in the battle for
second place. One can say that Lezak had learned two important lessons:
1- The last meters are the most important. 2- Being next to someone who is in front of
you, creates a small wave that helps you swim faster.
On a professional level, it is considered
a very good relay start when only 10 hundredths of a second pass from when the swimmer in
the water touches the wall and the take-off of his partner. Lezak felt more comfortable
with a consistent 15 hundredths of a second start throughout his entire career. But with
the excitement of everything that was at stake, Lezak jumped just 3 hundredths of a second
after Cullen Jones touched the wall. Alain Bernard full of adrenaline too, increased
the lead. After the turn Lezak remembered the two lessons. He swam close to the lane
line to surf Alain's wave and patiently waited for the last few meters.
5 teams swam faster than the world record.
Only three people swam below 47 seconds. Alain Bernard 46.73. Fred Bousquet 46.63 and Jason
Lezak 46.06.
4 years later there was another swim star showdown. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Nathan
Adrian, Roland Schoeman, Vladimir Morosov, Luca Dotto, Filippo Magnini, Eamon Sullivan,
James Magnussen, Amaury Leveux, Fabien Gilot. And the French did it again, they placed the
new swim star Yanick Agnel at the end.
Nathan Adrian handed over the relay in first place to Michael Phelps. Phelps did his thing
underwater and got a bigger lead. Cullen Jones jumped to the pool with a half-body lead.
And handed Ryan Lochte the same advantage. Yannick Agnel, swam close to the lane line
and patiently surfed until the last meters. Yannick Agnel was the only swimmer in the
event to drop below 47 seconds.
4 years later Caeleb Dressel would hand the relay to Phelps in second place behind Les
Bleus. Phelps swam his best time in this event with a 47.1 and left them a body-length lead.
Florent Manaudou shortened the lead with another 47.1. Jeremy Stravius swam next to the lane
line and waited patiently for the wave, but now Nathan Adrian moved as far as he could
to the other side of the lane. The only swimmer under 47 was Nathan Adrian.
Who do You think will win in Tokyo 2021?
In the next video we will talk about the story
of two brothers who made it to the Olympics. You know who they are?
If you missed the beginning of this story
when this relay event got crazy click here!