Rowdy Gaines sparked an interesting twitter conversation about the greatest swim people had ever witnessed. Of course, the 2008 Olympic 400 free relay got many mentions. For me, one of the the greatest race I ever saw was the battle of Michael Phelps vs. Erik Vendt at the 2002 U.S. National championships, where both broke the world record.
Vendt came back so hard on Phelps in the breaststroke, setting up an epic race with 50m to go. Watch it here.
Butterfly
Michael Phelps US Nationals 2015
MP's comeback race saw him putting down the fastest swim in the world despite not competing at the World Championships (where all the other main contenders were)
Watch as Michael Phelps sets a 2015 world-best in the 100m fly of 50.45 at the 2015 Phillips 66 National Championships on Aug. 8 in San Antonio, Texas.
Michael Phelps' 7th Gold Medal
The 7th of 8 Gold Medals won by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the most astonishing.
In this memorable race, Milorad Cavic lead Phelps the entire race, except for the finish.
Many have discredited Cavic's finishing technique during this race, but he did what many swimmers regrettably practice, a heads up finish.
A heads up finish creates frontal drag, slowing the swimmer.
Often times, this results in an insignificant difference in time, but in this race it was significant, as it allowed Phelps to get his fingertips on the wall first for the win.
This in my opinion is the best race of the past decade in my opinion, not because Phelps upset anyone, but due to the fact you have to watch it repeatedly to see if Phelps actually finished first, truly amazing.
Caeleb Dressel World Championships 2019 breaking Phelps’s World Record
Swimming in the semifinals of the men's 100 butterfly Friday evening in Gwangju, South Korea, at the 2019 FINA World Championships, American sprint star Caeleb Dressel broke his first individual long course World Record in the 100 butterfly, with a time of 49.50.
With this performance, Dressel shaves 0.32 from the previous mark set by Michael Phelps at the 2009 World Championships.
Joseph Schooling 2016 Olympic Gold Medal Rio 2016
Joseph Schooling wins Singapore's first ever Olympic Gold beating the his childhood hero and historically with Michael Phelps, Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh all winning silver.
Backstroke
Regan Smith World Championships 2019 smashing the 200m Backstroke World Record - 17 years old
Stunning technique throughout the race.Regan Smith broke Missy Franklin's 2012 World Record in the women's 200m backstroke with a time of 2.03.35 at the 2019 World Swimming Championships.
Matt Grevers Olympics 2012 winning Gold with a brilliant turn and finish
The USA's Matthew Grevers sets a new Olympic record of 52.16 as he wins the men's 100m backstroke event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Grevers won a total of three medals: two golds and one silver.
Krisztina Egerszegi 1988 Olympic Games - Swimming - Women's 200 Meter Backstroke
As a 12-year-old, Krisztina Egerszegi had débuted at the 1987 European Championships, placing fourth in the 200 back. A few days prior to this race she had placed second in the 100 back to East German wonder woman Kristin Otto, and that gave her encouragement for the 200. But the favorite in this event was another East German, Cornelia Sirch. Sirch went to the 100 in the final with a slight lead over Egerszegi but the Hungarian teenager blitzed the third lap, and came home for the gold medal in the second fastest time ever, 2:09.29.
Breaststroke
Kosuke Kitajima Japan Open 2008 going the first ever 2.07 in the 200m Breaststroke
Arguably the greatest breaststroke technique of all time. Wearing Speedo's LZR Racer, Kitajima finished in 2 minutes, 07.51 seconds at the Japan Open, taking almost a second off the previous mark set by American Brendan Hansen in 2006
Cameron van der Burgh Olympics 2012 winning Gold in a World Record Time
South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh sets a new world record of 58.46 as he wins the gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke event at the London 2012 Olympic Games and dedicates the swim to the favourite before the games who tragically died of a heart attack, Alexander Dale Oen.
Adam Peaty Olympics 2016 Winning gold in a World Record Time.
Great Britain swimmer Adam Peaty wins gold with a new world record in the 100m breaststroke at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years. He is the current holder of the world record in 50 metre and 100 metre breaststroke events.
Freestyle
Yannick Agnel Olympics 2012 winning Olympic Gold in the 200 Freestyle
France's Yannick Agnel wins the gold medal in the men's 200m freestyle swimming event in the aquatics centre at the London 2012 Olympics. Agnel’s technique is long lean and his underwater work is sublime. Korea's Park Tae Hwan won silver in the event with China's Sun Yang winning bronze.
Ian Thorpe Olympics 2000 winning the 400m Freestyle
In many people’s opinion, “Thorpedo” is the greatest freestyle of all time …. And listen to that roar at the home games in Sydney.Watch the moment Ian Thorpe became an Olympic champion for the first time as he beats Massimiliano Rosolino and Klete Keller in the Men's 400m freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Nathan Adrian Wins Men's 100m Freestyle Gold - London 2012 Olympics
Heading into the 2012 Olympics James Magnussen was the clear favorite in the 100 free. At the Olympics, Nathan Adrian had other plans holding off the Aussie, by touching him out by 0.01.
In this race, Nathan Adrian (USA) set a time of 47.52 to beat James Magnussen's (AUS) time of 47.53 to win the men's 100m freestyle gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games (1 August).
The tight race was completed with Canada's Brent Hayden winning the bronze medal.
Park Wins Men's 400-meter Freestyle
South Korea's Park Tae Hwan won the men's 400-meter freestyle final at the 2012 World Championships.
In this race, Park stormed home on the final lap, moving from 4th to 1st to win by a body length!
His winning time of three minutes, 44.30 seconds, more than four seconds outside the world record of 3:40.08 set by the retired Australian Ian Thorpe, but still an amazing race!
Vladimir Salnikov Men's 1500 Meter Freestyle 1988 Olympic Games
Vladimir Salnikov was unbeaten in this race between 1977 and early 1986. He had broken the 15-minute barrier at the 1980 Olympics, and was still the only swimmer under the barrier, having bettered it four times, with three world records.
Katie Ledecky vs Rebecca Adlington - Women's 800m Freestyle London 2012 Olympics
In anticipation for the women’s 800 freestyle at the 2012 Olympics in London, commentators described the race as the “biggest moment in British swimming for who knows how long.” While the results may not have met Great Britain’s expectations, this race was certainly an epic showdown featuring some of the greatest distance swimmers in recent history, and it marks the international debut of American superstar Katie Ledecky.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Ye Shiwen Olympics 2012 winning the 400m Individual Medley
Watch an incredible back end freestyle where Ye Shiwen swam faster than most men’s splits – at only 16 years old.
Michael Phelps winning the 200m Individual Medley - Olympics 2016
Winning his 4thconsecutive 200m Individual Medley Olympic Gold. No other athlete has ever accomplished this.
The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. As the most decorated Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps continued to etch his name into the history records with a first Olympic four-peat in the same individual swimming event.
Relay MENS 4X100M Freestyle Relay- 2008 Olympics
with the greatest comeback of all time thanks to Jason Lezak
The USA sensationally break the world record for the men's 4X100M freestyle relay at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.This is considered the best swimming race of all time with Jason Lezak coming from behind to help keep Michael Phelp’s dream of 8 Olympic Gold medals alive
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Let's walk down the memory lane and take a look at public Swimming Pools in Singapore back in the days..
Read more here.
