Sportsfrog.com

I almost wish John Madden was around to cover the Olympics so he could beat this story to death.

During the 200 meter fly final Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, in Beijing), Michael Phelps had some problems with his goggles that all the advanced technology in the world couldn’t fix.

Amazingly, Phelps won the fly despite his goggles filling with water as he approached the 150-meter mark in the race. Once getting to the finishing blocks, he flung off his cap and goggles in disgust and vigorously rubbed his eyes, despite having set a record in the race.

“I couldn’t see,” Phelps said. “I was trying to see the ‘T’ on the bottom [of the pool] to try and judge my turn and the finish. I was more or less just sort of counting strokes. I sort of know how many strokes I take in a 50, and I was hoping I was going to be dead on and I was going to be able to hit the wall perfectly. I was able to get my hand on the wall first and it was a best time, but I think I was just disappointed that I know I can go faster than that.”

As swamper and former high school swimmer (the Michael Phelps of his rec pool) govmentchedda points out, “that’s like driving a race car with a beach towel flapping around on your windshield.”