This is Amanda Beard. She is an excellent breastroke swimmer and as far as I know, Ryk Neethling's girlfriend. I swam with Ryk, or more accurately, we swam with the same squad, and under the same swim coach, some years ago. I emailed him before the men's relay and he emailed me back, telling me when the race was. It was pretty amazing because they got a world record, and beat the Americans (including Phelps). The email was amazing too because Ryk got something like 1500 emails around the time of the Olympics.
When I first saw this picture, and I think I found it on the New York Times website, I felt claustrophia. It was weird to feel this terrible sense of breathlessness just from looking at a picture. It's because you can't tell where she needs to swim to get air. I stared at this picture late at night and I couldn't breathe. I'd like to know whether anyone else gets a similar impulse. It's also kind've mournful, and Big Blue-ish, which I think makes it quietly beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment