Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Breaking world records

We have had 3 amazing days of swimming competition. So far Michael Phelps is 3 for 3, all in World Record times. It is a privilege to help take care of the greatest swimmer ever.

I imagine everyone saw or heard about the Men's 400 meter Freestyle relay. This is one of the marquee events of the Games, and the U.S. won with a truly incredible performance, breaking the world record by 4 seconds and just edging out the favored French team. I remember standing on the sidelines at the Superbowl this past January with the Giants and during the last drive I was thinking that it was just like an Olympics final: it is something an athlete has trained for since they were a kid and careers could be defined based on what happens on the next 5 minutes. Well, the Men's 400 meter Freestyle relay was just the same. I guess you could say that the relay swim was like the Giants last (winning) drive in the Superbowl. The anchor leg (Jason Lezak) was like Tyree's catch against his helmet. This is one of the things I love about sports: to achieve at this level, someone has to step up and do something special. As is said in football: Big players make big plays in big games...

On the medical side, I have kept busy treating gastrointestinal upset and traveller's diarrhea. This is rather common (almost expected) in new environments with changes in food, water, etc. I have also been busy accompanying our athletes during the drug testing process. Both urine and blood samples are being analyzed. The top 5 finishers in each event are tested, as well other random athletes. I am there to ensure that the protocols are followed very carefully.

2 comments:

Whole_Body_Healer said...

I agree. The Men's 400 meter Freestyle relay was AWESOME & Jason's finish was unbelievably great! It was my understanding that the frenchmen who boasted about "smashing the US" was in fact the one who was edged out by Jason...I'm sure that made the victory all the sweeter, and the reaction of the US team upon seeing that Jason had actually touched 1st, was priceless. I'm sure that victory put some more mojo & inspiration into everyone for what is possible.

Lucky you that you are able to witness first hand these sorts of triumphs & be priviledeged to participate in the care of the athletes.
Michalene

dr_dredd said...

Hi, Scott. Your blog is fascinating! Looking forward to reading more.

I used to be a Cornell med student and a New York Hospital medicine resident (1998-2001). How's Christine? :-)