So far pollution has not made the sort of headlines I'd expected. I thought more athletes would be complaining about a perceived inability to perform. Of course, in the cycling event, a massive number retired without completing the event, but humidity rather than noxious gas was blamed. I have competed at the same time of year and virtually the same latitude (in a half ironman event, including a 90km cycle) and in order to survive those conditions you have to be constantly taking on new water. On a bicycle that's not easy. And to give you an idea what I am talking about - there is a constant stream of perspiration dripping off your nose and chin.
In the following year I was not in good shape, and during the bicycle leg I got off and lay in a ditch to cool off. I remember after the race almost passing out from heat exhaustion in the cooking hot transition area.
While South Africa might selfishly feel disappointed by their swimmer's collective performances, in fact the level of competitive swimming this year has been phenomenal. We can blame the speedsuits, or we can embrace them. I think the swimmers look sleek and professional in them, and given the hard slog that swimming involves (it's probably a tougher sport than cycling), the added excitement of the suits is a bonus.
It's easy to single out Phelps as Mr. Amazing, and he has been. So has Jason Lezak and many other swimmers. The South Africans have performed well, but some of them are at their 4th Olympics, and the stars are starting to wane. Jean Basson at 22 just missed a bronze medal, but in fairness, was also just as close to finishing 5th. We can expect great things from Jean. He has a great stroke, a he may well be South Africa's next big name in swimming. Will be Ryk? I think there is only one Ryk.
I've found Ryk's assessment touching. That he meant to enjoy the Olympics given that his sister Elsje faces a life-threatening cancer scare. I haven't been close buddies with the Neethling's, but I was at school with Ryk and we swam for the same coach and as far back as I can remember Elsje was fighting off wave after wave of tumors. That is a side to Ryk's story that is less well known, and obviously it is deeply distressing to have a sibling facing the equivalent of death row, then survive the experience, again and again. I saw some video footage of Ryk praising Mandela's demeanour, and I think the same compliment ought to extend to him. He is one of South Africa's greats, alongside Hansie, and Zola, and Penny (even Charlize and Mark Shuttleworth) - but of course, Ryk nevertheless stands alone as a great personality in his own right.
I speak under correction, but Roland Schoeman seems not to be performing that great at this years Olympics. This is a multiple world champ and yet his times, even in the relay, were so-so. Only question to ponder is why didn't the guys swim in speedsuits? And finally, there is no use fingerpointing and blaming now. It was disappointing to hear that there was some sort of disagreement before the relay, because this sort of thing adds massive amounts of stress, which sap vital amounts of energy. That said, the boys ended 7th, not 4th. They weren't in it. As Ryk said on his blog: The Americans have reached another level. The South Africans reached a higher level some time ago and staying there is difficult enough. Remember, Ryk is 30 this year, Schoeman 28. Both swimmers specialise in shorter events, which puts their age against them. The ruling psychology is:
Analyses of Olympic track and field and swimming data show that the age at which peak performance is achieved has remained remarkably consistent. For both men and women, the age of peak performance increases with the length of the foot race, and women generally achieve peak performance at younger ages. The pattern of increased age with increasing distance is reversed for female swimmers, where younger ages are associated with increasing distance.
Let's remember that the relay in question produced 2x 100m world records (Phelps and Sullivan) plus the fastest relay split ever swum (Lezac) and 5 countries came in under world record pace. The record was crunched by an unprecedented 4 second margin. Things have certainly accelerated since 2004, and the South Africans improved on their time, but not by much.
There are some silly fixations going on regarding the Olympics, and I think one of them is why South Africa haven't won any medals. Want to go on strike about it? Or blame transformation? Better just accept that sometimes you're just not good enough, and someone else is. The Americans have worked very hard to reach and remain number 1 in many sports, and their consistency in swimming is commendable.
This sort of story on the other hand is a waste of every one's time. Whingers and whiners - so what!
The Olympics is far more than just swimming. So far the cycling, and diving, and weightlifting has been awesome to watch, as has the volleyball and beach volleyball. South Africa has been disappointing in cycling and hockey - pretty much everything. Not in terms of individual performance, but in the competitive context of these performances. We need to learn to enjoy, to celebrate the sport, especially with the 2010 rolling up, and the likelihood that Bafana won't be in the picture for long.
When I was at the Fifa World Cup in Korea in 2002 we had as much fun painting our faces and carrying some other countries flag as our own. That's the true spirit of the games.
No comments:
Post a Comment