2016 Rio Summer Olympics

One small defense of synchronized swimming. Imagine Aly & Simone performing a side-by-side, mirror image floor ex, while holding their breath most of the time. It's not as easy as people seem to think.
disclaimer: I was in the synch swim club in college - but it was performance only (we didn't have the funding to travel for competition).
I have a coworker whose daughter did synch swimming in high school and college. I know it is hard. That being said, there are a lot of events that are weirder and more off the beaten path than rowing. I've rowed at the gym and it is brutal. I can only imagine what kind of shape a crew has to be in to take it 10,000 meters and stay in synch.
 
Sad for Stevie, played the match of his life. But will turn around and play doubles for a shot at a bronze.
 
Really. They literally do the same movements for 10000 meters
Actually I thought this too but I was watching rowing a lot yesterday and that isn't the case. For the first 500m they do high strokes which helps break teams off into packs. Once they get to deeper more choppy water they switch to deep strokes. Those help save energy and it helps create a rhythm. Once they get to the end they go into sprinting strokes which like it sounds it's all about speed.

I'll admit the first 1500m can be dull but watch the end when they all go full out sprinting. It's just like watching the last 50m of a swimming contest/ track race.

There are some teams that specialize in sprinting and it can be exciting to see them go from 5 to 2 because they fly by other teams.
 
I have a coworker whose daughter did synch swimming in high school and college. I know it is hard. That being said, there are a lot of events that are weirder and more off the beaten path than rowing. I've rowed at the gym and it is brutal. I can only imagine what kind of shape a crew has to be in to take it 10,000 meters and stay in synch.
Oh, I agree. That just always seems to be the first sport that comes up when people talk about "stupid Olympic sports"...and they rarely seem to know what is involved in it. :)

We were watching the swimming last night, and PapaLew was exclaiming about the distance that Phelps and a couple of others travel under the surface at the start and after the turns. It was funny seeing his face when I told him there was a time back in the day when I could do the half the length of that Olympic pool underwater. In the tryouts for the club, you had three chances to swim the length of the pool (25m) underwater. And you didn't dive in, either - it was a pushoff start. If you couldn't do that, you weren't invited to join. Other fun stuff in the tryouts included treading water for a minute with no hands, floating on the surface for a minute (okay to use hands) and front & back tuck somersaults completely underwater.
 
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Oh, I agree. That just always seems to be the first sport that comes up when people talk about "stupid Olympic sports"...and they rarely seem to know what is involved in it. :)

We were watching the swimming last night, and PapaLew was exclaiming about the distance that Phelps and a couple of others travel under the surface at the start and after the turns. It was funny seeing his face when I told him there was a time back in the day when I could do the half of that length underwater. In the tryouts for the club, you had three chances to swim the length of the pool (25m) underwater. And you didn't dive in, either - it was a pushoff start. If you couldn't do that, you weren't invited to join. Other fun stuff in the tryouts included treading water for a minute with no hands, floating on the surface for a minute (okay to use hands) and front & back tuck somersaults completely underwater.
Was this club happen to be called the Navy Seals??

 
Goals disallowed for both teams, the Sweden offside was a horrendous call. Same if they called Lloyd offside but it looked like a foul.
 
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Goals disallowed for both teams, the Sweden offside was a horrendous call. Same if they called Lloyd offside but it looked like a foul.

Had an AR last night who had absolutely no clue what offsides was. On one no call the opponent had 4 players behind our defensive line and they passed up to the one who was a full 4 yards behind the defense. He not only didn't put up the flag he even shook his head when the coach called him out on it.
 
I had never realized/thought about how in the 50m free, nobody takes a breath. It makes sense, I had just never thought about it. But that is nothing, as far as how long they hold their breath, because of how fast they are going.
 
I had never realized/thought about how in the 50m free, nobody takes a breath. It makes sense, I had just never thought about it. But that is nothing, as far as how long they hold their breath, because of how fast they are going.
They breathe...but like once, maybe, at the turn. The slower ones take more breaths.