Ous swam a perfect race against the very best the world has ever seen. By Steven Munatones
SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 2. OUSSAMA Mellouli trailed the leaders over the first 1100 meters of the Olympic 1500-meter finals. Then, he surged to the front, opened up a gap and held off Grant Hackett to dramatically win the gold in one of the most anticipated races in Beijing.
When he stole the stage from two-time Olympic gold medalist Hackett, Mellouli used the playbook of champion open water swimmers. During the first part of the race, Mellouli stuck near the leaders, then spotted an opening and made a powerful move to the front, holding off the pack in a sprint to the finish.
On Sunday, in the expected 64°F (17.7°C) waters of San Francisco Bay, Mellouli will need to take out his playbook and polish off his Olympic-winning ways. Mellouli will face 20 pool and open water Olympians and world champions from around the world in the ninth annual RCP Tiburon Mile.
Considered the most prestigious "SuperStars" competition where pool and open water swimming stars come together, Mellouli will be fighting against a slew of All-Stars, all eager to win the $10,000 winner-take-all first prize.
Dave Salo, his coach at USC, described Mellouli's Olympic performance by saying, "Ous swam a perfect race against the very best the world has ever seen in the 1500 free."
Facing the likes of two-time defending Tiburon Mile champion, Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia and Olympic 10K bronze medalist Thomas Lurz of Germany, Mellouli will have to swim another perfect race to win. Australia is also sending its top open water swimmers who have been recently winning ocean races from Sydney to Hawaii. North Carolina's Chip Peterson, the 2005 10K world champion, and double Olympic medalist Erik Vendt are also expected to be in the hunt.
On the women's side, Chloe Sutton of Mission Viejo is the two-time defending champion and looking for a three-peat. Like Mellouli, Sutton will face a tough crowd. Multiple-time world open water champion Britta Kamrau-Corestein of Germany, Florida's 14-time All-American Dawn Heckman, German 100 and 200 specialist Annika Lurz, 9-time national open water champion Erica Rose and up-and-coming Australian Luane Rowe will be gunning for Sutton.
Besides coverage by Swimming World Magazine, John Naber, Rowdy Gaines and The Morning Swim Show's own Peter Busch will provide the play-by-play for a special Comcast Sports Net broadcast in November.
Last year, Vendt shot out to the lead, but took a wrong line to the finish. Other top pool swimmers have made similar navigational or tactical errors during the Tiburon Mile. The thousands of fans that line the banks of the San Francisco Bay to watch the star-studded event know that pre-race predictions mean nothing once those athletes hit the cold water and aim for the $10,000 finish line.
Premium Members - Search More About: Ous Mellouli
Reaction Time Comments
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
October 2, 2008 This is what's wrong with sports. We find the drug cheats, ban them, then forgive them and praise them. Ridiculous and wrong. I hope Ous fails. Submitted by: JeffyFit
October 2, 2008 jeffyfit, he took an adderall to stay up to complete an assignment...athletes can actually be prescribed to adderall, i dont think it is very performance enhancing.. being a college student myself, i can understand making a stupid mistake like this..regardless though, he accepted the ban and gave back his world champ medals...i thought his performance was great and i wish him luck Submitted by: swimdude11
October 2, 2008 swimdude11, do you realize that if a lot of people made a "stupid mistake" like that in their jobs that they'd be fired? Not just asked to take a year off and try again later, but fired. Not slapped on the wrist but told to join the unemployment line and never to use them as a reference.
Being a crazy, stressed college kid is no excuse. His "job" is being an athlete. Part of that job is taking NO non-prescribed, non-declared, non-banned medicines. I can't believe we as a country have reached a point where personal responsibility no longer matters. Submitted by: dcswimguy
October 3, 2008 Folks, FYI, Ous Mellouli did not cheat. He was tested positive to drugs due to energetic food intake he was consuming to keep up with his school load. He admitted it in court to lighten up his sentence. Give him a break, he is a great athlete with proven track record of discipline and hard work. I am glad to see him back in pool and snatch the Gold medal in Beijing! Submitted by: Dawg
October 8, 2008 Sorry guys, but Ous did cheat. I recorded all the swim finals from the olympics and watched the 1500 again. I have never seen a swimmer doing a 20-second personal best time (especially at that level) in 1500 and after the race just jumping out of the pool and running around.
At the end of the race, he did not even blink. Watch his face very closely if you have the chance. I know that he was excited and all but that did not seem natural at all.
For me, he only learned how to conceal the cheating better. He is not a role model for our young swimmers - that's for sure.
I totally agree with JeffFit and dcswimguy: Unless we give very harsh punishments to offenders (like banning them form the sport for life); we will always have these so called 'mistakes'. Submitted by: Thunder
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
|
Photo By: Reuters
Subscribe Now!
|
