JASON LEZAK AND THE POWER OF COMPETING
*originally published on SwimSwam.com by Olivier LeRoy
No matter how many times I watch the race video I still get all the goose-tinglies.
When Jason Lezak dove into the water on August 11, 2008, for the final leg of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympics, it was inconceivable that he and the Americans could win. Personal best times and common sense dictated that it simply wasn’t possible.
As Lezak surfaced from his breakout he was nearly a body length behind the team from France, who came into the race as a lock for gold. France had their ace, Alain Bernard, the world record holder in the 100m freestyle, as their anchor, his massive arms hurling him across the surface, a rooster tail of water behind him.
With a lead.
A big lead.
But then somehow, someway, the impossible happened.
SETTING THE SCENE: BEIJING 2008
Let’s quickly set the table of that fateful race:
The French team, being anchored by Bernard, had qualified fastest. They were the undisputed favorites to win. And not just win but dominate. On paper, when best times were compared, it wasn’t even close. Bernard did a good job of verbalizingwhat was generally expected to happen: “The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for.”
For nine consecutive Olympiads the 4x100m freestyle relay had been owned by the American. But over the past 8 years their dominance had wilted away.
At the Sydney Games in 2000 they lost to the hometown Australians.
At the Athens Olympics in 2004 the Americans placed third behind South Africa and the Netherlands.
After going undefeated in the event for 36 years suddenly American invincibility in the relays had been shattered.
And of course, there was Michael Phelps, who would swim the lead-off leg for the US. Phelps was the headliner of the Games. His quest to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics was on the line. No relay gold, no hope to beat Spitz’s record haul. Simple as that.
The Americans were in lane four, the French in lane five, and in lane seven, South Africa. They had the same four swimmers who’d stunned the world to win gold and break the world record four years earlier in Athens. Over in lane three was Australia, who had a stacked line-up of sprinters. In all, a dozen world record holders filled the final.
It goes without saying that the atmosphere was thick in the Water Cube.
And as the first wave of swimmers dove in, things unfolded as expected.
Phelps had a dazzling opening leg, breaking the American record in the 100m free. Eamon Sullivan of Australia would dip under the world record on his opening leg, giving the Australians an early lead.
On the third leg, France’s Fred Bousquet, who had recorded the fastest split in history during prelims with a 46.6, took the French out to a comfortable lead. The United States were half a body length behind as Bousquet charged for the wall.
Standing on the blocks, Bernard and Lezak, who at the age of 32 was the oldest male swimmer on the American team in Beijing. As the anchors dove in, a resigned Rowdy Gaines had this to say about the Americans chances of winning: “I just don’t think they can do it.”
Bernard’s lead increased over the first 50m. The gold medal was sewn up, and the world record line wasn’t even in the same zip code anymore. The Americans had put forth a valiant effort, but the power of the French was too much to overcome.
But then the magic started to happen.
Lezak hammered the turn, and when he popped out of his breakout he was suddenly on Bernard’s hip, eyes locked on the Frenchman. As they passed 75m, Bernard, who had looked unstoppable, was beginning to tighten up. The piano was beginning to fall on his shoulders.
Stroke by stroke, Lezak reeled in Bernard. At the 85m mark, where Lezak had been expecting to fade, he felt a final surge of adrenaline blast through his arms and legs. “I’d never felt it before,” he said.
By the time they reached the flags, with just five metres to go, they were in lock-step, with both swimmers hurling their arms at the wall with one final gasp of effort…
USA, gold.
By just eight one hundredths of a second.
Lezak’s split?
An other-worldly 46.06.
Easily the fastest split in history.
To the feet Lezak’s first 50 was done in 21.50—which would have placed him fourth in the final of the 50m freestyle later that week.
The time was 1.3 seconds faster than he’d ever swum in a relay, and almost two seconds faster than his flat start time.
How did Lezak do it?
By his own admission he wasn’t full of confidence prior or even during the race.
“I had plenty of negative thoughts during the race,” Lezak said later. “I really didn’t think I’d be able to catch him.”
So how did Lezak pull off the impossible?
By competing.
THE POWER OF COMPETITION
We’ve all experienced that surge of adrenaline that comes from competing at our absolute best: The surreal sensation of when our preparation aligns perfectly with the pressure of the moment.
The time that Lezak dropped that day in Beijing was simply absurd.
Did the drafting factor into it? Sure. Did the excitement of the moment play a role? You know it. Did playing the role of underdog help him throw down a “pressure-free” effort? You betcha.
But a lesser competitor would have seen the predicament—going into the anchor leg a half-body length behind the world record holder in the event—and swam for silver. A swimmer who wasn’t a competitor would have seen that things weren’t going his way and given up.
Instead, Lezak competed his brains off from beginning to end, not saving anything for the finish, swimming a time that wasn’t even the same neighborhood as his personal best time.
Now that’s competing.