I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I’m completely jaded when it comes to a swimmer breaking any kind of record.

I’ve watched the Beijing Olympics religiously since it started (despite NBC disrespecting west coast visitors), and it seems like every time someone jumps in the pool they’re setting some type of record. Was it like this in my parents generation too? Are today’s athletes THAT much better than they used to be? The straw that broke the camels back was the Men’s 4×100m freestyle relay on Sunday night, they absolutely demolished the previous record by FOUR seconds.

This article on Sports Illustrated provided an interesting tidbit about swimming events:

There are 32 events on the Olympic program, and in 26 of them, world records have been broken since the conclusion of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Kinda saps the luster out of the moment doesn’t it?