Wow, thanks for posting those.

no way that is frame by frame

not exactly frame by frame, but that last one is very telling as you can see Phelps has already hammered the wall by the time the other guy was just getting there.

[This message has been edited by Bob the Enzyte Guy (edited 8/16/2008 2:07p).]

Great find.

How Phelps got from position #2 above to #4 is just incredible. He was in "no man's land" where you have to decide to stretch or take a short stroke. 19 of 20 times you will lose taking the short stroke.

Phelps arms were moving through the air at very high speed while Cavic is slowing down. What a storybook finish.

Thanks...Awesome view from underneath

Up until now I was convinced that the Serbian beat him on the touch. But I was watching only Phelps' left hand. These pictures show his right hand got there first.

GREAT PICTURES!!

Well, hopefully he touched both hands at the same time/plane, since it would have been a DQ otherwise.

It was almost like an optical illusion watching it live, but I think it was clear (as clear as .01 can be) on the replays.

I think almost everyone, including Phelps, thought he had lost the race. His mom and coach both thought Cavic beat him.

Phelps clearly won. No doubt. Going for #8 tonight!

Why is it illegal to touch the wall without using both hands @ the same time? That doesn't really make much sense. And can anyone truely ever touch the wall with both hands @ the same time? I understand one can reach farther with one hand, but if everyone could do it, why would it matter?

It does seem like a somewhat corney rule. he won by a "spitz" second. (Houston Chronicle) Did you see his mom's reaction? Thanks for the pics, they're awesome. Do you think Phelps will
get #8 tonite? Lezak is anchor and thats all I know. Will Team USA beat out the Auzzie's?

The anchor for the Aussies is Eamon Sullivan - WR holder...it will be tough. I hope our guys pull it off and bring home another gold.

He did it!

Aggiederelict - the two hand touch of course is required only for fly and breaststroke. The two hand touch is required for those strokes because the hands/arms must move simultaneously on those strokes. So it makes sense to continue that requirement for all wall touches. The hands do not have to be at the same height - which is something most swimmers will take advantage of on turns. They'll drop one hand and shoulder to set up for the turn.

Oh - and no swimmer probably can truly touch simultaneously. The touch pads can't tell either. So that is judged by the human eye.

He sure did!!! #8, passing Spitz! He had already passed Spitz from after individual #5. When Spitz got his 7, FOUR of them were gold, so Phelps passed him there, before the relay.

Actually, when Spitz got his 7, all 7 of them were gold... I think you may be confusing career golds with a single games medal count. Phelps passed Spitz in career golds when he got his tenth gold in his 4th swim at these games (he has 6 golds from 2004). He is now the record holder in both the single games count (8 golds to Spitz's 7) and career count (14 overall to the four-way tie for 9 between Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina).

Single greatest Olympic champion of all time, and he's only 23.

I bet Cavic is kicking himself for looking at the wall instead of getting his head down all the way into the finish...

[This message has been edited by tpog (edited 8/17/2008 11:08p).]

that's awesome!

thanks

tpog: yeah, I think what you said is what I meant to say....I think. Thanks!