Last night just happened to be one of those occasions, as I saw probably the most amazing relay race of all time in the men's 4 x 100 Free Relay.  Thanks to my roommate Trevor, I actually stayed up to watch the race, or I would have been asleep by the time it came on.  So I ended up turning the channel just in time to see Phelps jump up on the starting blocks.  I already knew there was some bad blood between us and the rival team from France, who said they were going to smash us.  After the first leg, I was a bit nervous, as Phelps fell a touch behind, and his potential of winning a record 8 medals was in jeopardy.  I knew there was a lot of swimming left though, and that everyone was still close and in it.

The final leg was absolutely amazing though, as Jason Lezak jumped in the pool .6 seconds behind.  You would think that is a small margin, but in swimming, 0.6 seconds is a sizable gap.  Not only was he that far behind, but the guy ahead of him from France holds the world record in the 100 Free, so I thought we were done.  It wasn't until right after the turn to hit the last 50 that I was starting to go a little nuts.  Here I was lying in bed ready to go to sleep but my heart was pounding so hard as that competitive feeling was coming back into me.  The second he hit the flags a few strokes from the finish, I thought it was possible for us to win, then he finished by out-touching him and winning by 0.08 seconds.  I was going absolutely nuts, pumping my fists, hollering and waking up my other roommate Joe.  That probably explains why I am so tired today, as I was so juiced after that race that I couldn't fall asleep for another hour and a half.  That had to be the most amazing race I have ever seen in my life.  So if you happen to see some 20 something that doesn't look like he has been in the pool in 5 years at Washington-Lee pool tonight, be sure to say hello.