"Just Keep Swimming"

Michael Phelps practically became a household name when he participated in the Athens Olympics 4 years ago. As a 19 year old he won 6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals in Athens and he hopes to beat that record this year in Beijing.

Dory, a fish from the movie Finding Nemo, said in the movie “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming” and that is exactly what Michael Phelps did in Athens. He participated in 17 races over 7 days! Unfortunately, he did not perform well in the last one because of exhaustion. Since he was entered in so many races, he was very tired by the last few races and did not perform well in them because he was racing against competitors who were fresh and ready to race.

This year the 23 year old will return to the world stage in Beijing hoping to compete in 17 or close to 17 races over 9 days. This time he has a better plan and hopes to be more successful in his later events. He is now stronger and is on a new weight training program. Isn’t it amazing how Phelps is so good at so many events? I wonder how he finds the energy to race in more than one or two Olympic races a day.

I remember playing in a soccer game once during a very hot day. I was running around like crazy and I was getting really tired but I didn’t want to stop playing because it was an exciting game. Once the game finally ended I was so worn out that I went straight home and rested the rest of the day. I was so tired that I barely moved around during the day and then I went to bed early and slept for a solid 12 hours.

Have you ever played a sport for so long that you were completely exhausted at the end? Comment below and tell me about it.