It's that time of the quad again! The time where every 4 years the best athletes from around the world come to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. The Olympics not only showcase the strongest athletes in each respective sport, but bring countries together in utter patriotism for their athletes. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, everyone from around England, including Prince Harry, came out to see what the British athletes could do. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, President George W. Bush came out and watched the infamous USA men 4x100 meter freestyle relay that just out touched France for gold. Whether it's the Summer or Winter Olympics, it's safe to say that people put aside their differences to cheer on the athletes.
Swimming has been a dominate sport throughout the modern Olympics, especially for the USA. Janet Evans won a total of 4 gold medals at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. Mark Spitz won 7 golds at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, which has only been broken by Michael Phelps when he won 8 golds at the 2008 Games.
For some reason, however, Americans don't seem to be excited about swimming as much as other sports. When the Olympics inch closer every 4 years, swimming starts to gain some publicity, but it seems like most people still don't watch swimming, just hear about it on the news and get super hype, but still don't become a fan. So, without further a due, here are 3 reasons you should.
1. Katie Ledecky
Katie Ledecky is the best female swimmer in the world right now. She currently holds the world record in the 400, 800, and 1,500 meter freestyle, is a 9 time world champion, and won gold in the 800 meter freestyle in 2012 at just 15 years old. She is the current face of the sport and probably will be for a long time.
2. Relays
The United States has a big reputation of tearing it up when it comes to relays. In 2008 the relay king Jason Lezak anchored the men 4x100 freestyle relay to make a huge comeback and beat out France for the gold medal. On the men and women side the USA has held world record in multiple relays, including the women 4x100 meter medley. Relays are also the most exciting part of a meet for most people. You get to see the top 4 athletes of a certain country battle it out with the top 4 from a different country, a truly exciting event.
3. The training camp videos
Before arriving at the Olympics, the USA swim team has made a fun video to be released before the Games. In 2012 they did a music video to the annoyingly catchy song "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen which picked up major hype by the media and seemed to be a household topic among Americans. Now this year they did a carpool karaoke video that was pure genius, and also included the Pokemon theme song.
Though I only listed 3, there are many more reasons you should become a swimming fanatic. The next time you're bored and you don't know what to do with your life, try looking up some swimming videos on YouTube to really see what i'm talking about.
