Tag: swimming

Michael Phelps’ 8th Gold Medal Breaks Spitz Olympic Record – The Affirmation Spot

Today’s Affirmation:

“I thrive on pressure situations. They only up my game.” (hear it)

It was close, but Michael Phelps won his record 8th gold medal surpassing Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old Olympic record. The American Mens 4 x 100 meter medley relay team pulled out the victory that made Michael Phelps the undisputed Olympic champion of champions.

For the second time in these Olympics, Jason Lezak anchored the team and brought home the gold. This time holding off a surging Team Australia.

The Americans won in world record time of 3:29.84.

A clearly fatigued Phelps was humble in describing this accomplishment, but his teammate Brendan Hansen was not shy in declaring Phelps’ accomplishment the greatest in sports. Hansen said, “What the man to my right accomplished is the biggest thing in sports general. It’s bigger than the Tour de France. It’s bigger than a pressure putt at the U.S. Open.”

Five-time Olympic gold medalist Aaron Piersol said, “My hat’s off this guy for this accomplishment.”

Phelps told NBC’s Bob Costas, “I’m at a loss for words. This was everything that I wanted to do and everything I dreamed of. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Costas asked, “You’re a bit like Michael Jordan in this respect. Jordan would extract motivation from any situation. He would even somehow perceive a slight from an intended compliment. So whether it’s (Ian) Thorpe, or it’s (Milorad) Cavic, or Alain Bernard. If it’s something real or imagined that can get under your skin you use it?

Phelps replied, “Oh yeah. I said yesterday I welcome any comments. All they do is fire me up. I love when people say that somebody can’t do something. You want to go out there and prove it that much more.”

Tonight Phelps proved it for now and all time. He finishes this Olympics with 8 gold medals, seven world records, and one Olympic record. He set a goal four years ago to come and dominate these games. He worked towards that goal for four years. Tonight it all came true.

He is an inspiration to us all.

Stay inspired!

Ray

www.theaffirmationspot.com offers downloadable mp3 affirmations for nearly every area of life – sports, sales, wealth and prosperity, health and fitness – to name just a few. Our library is growing all the time. Remember your fifth affirmation on each order is always free.




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Phelps’ 7th Gold Medal a Reminder to All – The Affirmation Spot for Saturday August 16, 2008

It’s amazing what you can learn watching the Olympics. Michael Phelps’ drive towards eight gold medals has been a veritable life lesson for us all. Sunday night we were all reminded that even great people in great pursuits need others to help them succeed.

“It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.”

~ often attributed to Harry S. Truman

Phelps’ 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay teammate Jason Lezak kept Phelps’ dream alive when he improbably overcame a huge deficit against the world’s top 100-meter freestyler.

Friday night Phelps was aiming for gold medal #7 – the one that would tie Mark Spitz’s single Olympics record – and again the life lessons flowed.

Phelps was favored in the 100-meter butterfly, but after so many swims he has to be feeling it. At the 50 meter turn, Phelps found himself in seventh place out of eight swimmers. Serbian swimmer Milorad Cavic – Phelps’ leading competitor in the race – had the lead and appeared poised to upset Phelps and deny history. The race seemed to belong to Cavic with 10 meters remaining.

As they approached the wall, Cavic glided and Phelps pushed forward with one last stroke. He touched the wall 1/100th of a second ahead of Cavic.

So? It’s just another swimming race, right? Yes, but there was a lesson in there. We live in a culture where we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Women compare their figures with models and movie stars in magazines and magazines encourage it. We compare our cars with our neighbor’s car. We compare our results with others. There is almost never a time we are not comparing something about us or our lives with someone else.

Comparing robs us of energy and can sidetrack us. We start worrying about what is fair. This thinking is counterproductive in pursuing our goals. We are here to run our own race, not worry about the race others are running.

Who knows what was really going through Cavic’s mind as he neared the wall. Perhaps he was gliding because he thought he had victory. Meanwhile, Phelps was just running (um swimming) his race.

When we run our race we put the blinders on and forget about the medals, the credit, the fame, or the financial reward we may be seeking. Those things will sort themselves out later. During the race we are all about the race and pushing towards that wall.

Whether you are a sales professional or a writer; an athlete or a student; a scientist or a clerk you must run your own race and – this is critical – allow others the run theirs. Focus your energy. Be all about the race. Never assume you have it until you touch that wall.

That’s what Michael Phelps did. You may not win every time, but your success will be far greater than if you are constantly looking around to see where others are in comparison.

Great swim website featuring blogs and profiles by many leading swimmers:

The Swim Room

Stay inspired!

Ray

Michael Phelps Wins Record 11th Gold Medal – The Affirmation Spot for Wednesday August 13, 2008

Today’s Affirmation:

“A great swimmer lives within me. Today that swimmer hits the pool.” (hear it)

Paavo Nurmi, Larysa Latynina, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, and Michael Phelps each had 9 Olympic gold medals; until tonight that is.

This evening American swimmer Michael Phelps stands alone. He became the first athlete in Olympic history to win 10 gold medals by winning the men’s 200 meter butterfly in another world record of 1 minute 53.70 seconds. With the ease that has become his habit, Phelps bested a world-class field to claim his record-setting gold medal.

Less than 50 minutes later he snared gold medal number 11. He swam the lead off leg and led the U.S. men’s 800 meter freestyle relay team in obliterating the world record and the rest of the field by nearly five seconds. The U.S. men became the first team ever to break the 7-minute mark in the event.

In the process, Phelps also set his fifth world record in five events and surpassed Jenny Thompson as the most decorated swimmer in U.S. Olympic history.

His success is no accident. Throughout the games the media has talked about his commitment, his single-mindedness during the past four years in preparation for his day in the sun.

Tonight all that hard work paid off. Phelps has already secured his place among the immortals. Before these Olympics are over, Phelps may have enough gold medals to be in a class all by himself. The only question remaining is who will play Michael Phelps in the Hollywood version of his life.

Michael Phelps is proof that when belief, talent, and determination meet dreams come true.

Stay inspired!

Ray

www.theaffirmationspot.com offers downloadable mp3 affirmations for nearly every area of life – sports, sales, wealth and prosperity, health and fitness – to name just a few. Our library is growing all the time. Remember your fifth affirmation on each order is always free.

USA Men’s 4 X 100 Relay Team Overcomes – The Affirmation Spot for Monday August 11, 2008

Today’s Affirmation:

“Determination. I push my limits and I achieve great things.” (hear it)

Even American swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines said they wouldn’t do it. “I’ve put this down on paper a million times,” said Gaines before the race, “and I just can’t see how they win it.” Fortunately, the USA Men’s 4 X 100 freestyle relay swimming team wasn’t listening to Gaines or their French counterparts.

Alain Bernard the french anchor swimmer – and world record holder in the 100 meter freestyle – previously told a reporter that the favored French team would “smash” the Americans. In the end, it was Bernard whose anchor leg could have backed up his promise. Instead, veteran US swimmer Jason Lezak swam the fastest split in event history to chase down the Frenchman and claim gold for the Americans.

The victory returned Team USA to the top of relay swimming’s glamor event after two consecutive Olympic losses to Ian Thorpe and the Australians. The win kept alive Michael Phelps’ dream of claiming eight medals in a single Olympics. The victory also marked the first time an African American swimmer has claimed gold at the Olympics, as Cullen Jones joined teammates Lezak, Phelps, and Garrett Weber-Gale in world-record time of 3 minutes 8.24 seconds.

Watch the video:

NBC Video of Mens’ 4 x 100 Meter Freestyle

Amid the celebration of this great triumph is a reminder for us all.  The experts and other people may not give you a chance. Yet, we always have the choice to give the performance of our lives when it matters and prove them all wrong. The power of your belief combined with your desire to reach a goal are an unstoppable combination.

Stay inspired this Monday and never give up!

Ray

 

www.theaffirmationspot.com offers downloadable mp3 affirmations for nearly every area of life – sports, sales, wealth and prosperity, health and fitness – to name just a few. Our library is growing all the time. Remember your fifth affirmation on each order is always free.