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'It's really cool to have someone from Maine'
by Outspoken on Sat Aug 16, 2008 6:07 am
'It's really cool to have someone from Maine'
By JUSTIN ELLIS
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Ian Crocker might be the world-record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, but in the Olympic Viewing Guide supplied by the U.S. swim team, you have to look in the back of the book to find out about the Portland native's accomplishments.
Michael Phelps is right after the table of contents.
This was the hand Crocker was dealt going into Friday's 100-meter butterfly final against Phelps, where it seemed as if the entire United States – if not the world – was rooting for the man with all the medals.
But not in Portland.
Well, maybe.
"I didn't know who I should root for because I wanted Ian to win," Jerry Gravel said. "But I didn't want Phelps to not get eight gold medals."
Phelps hung on to win his seventh gold medal, and he will go for eight Sunday in a relay race. Crocker came in fourth, agonizingly close to the bronze medal – 0.01 seconds, in fact. This may have been a disappointment in any other place than a room filled with swim fans.
Gravel, a 13-year-old from Scarborough, watched Friday's race along with other swimmers and fans at a viewing party sponsored by the U.S. swim team. More than 70 people gathered at the Mariner's Church Banquet Center in Portland to watch the night's races, culminating in the 100-fly showdown.
"It might make (Crocker) sad he did not get in the top," Gravel said. "But he did the best he could."
It was a heavy swimming crowd at the church, with many in the audience members of Coastal Maine Aquatics, the swim team Crocker belonged to while growing up in Portland.
"I thought it was amazing," said Amelia Lundkvist. "I wasn't expecting Phelps to win."
Prior to the race, the 15-year-old from South Portland was more ambivalent.
"Michael (Phelps) is really good. I don't know," she said. "I mean, it would be really good to beat him because (Phelps) is such an animal."
Lundkvist, who started swimming more than seven years ago, attends Cheverus High School, where Crocker graduated in 2000.
Coastal Maine trains swimmers from the age of 6 up to 25, and has more than 160 people in the program, depending on the season, said head coach Leanne Gravel, Jerry's mom.
She said the kids identify with swimmers like Crocker and Phelps because they've been through the same things, from learning the names of strokes to perfecting their form.
The Olympic competition "highlights how much it takes to get to that level," she said.
Gravel said her students know that it can be a grueling process to get to where Crocker is today, and that it takes dedication and long hours. "It's a choice."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205034&ac=PHnws
Photos By Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer
By JUSTIN ELLIS
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Ian Crocker might be the world-record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, but in the Olympic Viewing Guide supplied by the U.S. swim team, you have to look in the back of the book to find out about the Portland native's accomplishments.
Michael Phelps is right after the table of contents.
This was the hand Crocker was dealt going into Friday's 100-meter butterfly final against Phelps, where it seemed as if the entire United States – if not the world – was rooting for the man with all the medals.
But not in Portland.
Well, maybe.
"I didn't know who I should root for because I wanted Ian to win," Jerry Gravel said. "But I didn't want Phelps to not get eight gold medals."
Phelps hung on to win his seventh gold medal, and he will go for eight Sunday in a relay race. Crocker came in fourth, agonizingly close to the bronze medal – 0.01 seconds, in fact. This may have been a disappointment in any other place than a room filled with swim fans.
Gravel, a 13-year-old from Scarborough, watched Friday's race along with other swimmers and fans at a viewing party sponsored by the U.S. swim team. More than 70 people gathered at the Mariner's Church Banquet Center in Portland to watch the night's races, culminating in the 100-fly showdown.
"It might make (Crocker) sad he did not get in the top," Gravel said. "But he did the best he could."
It was a heavy swimming crowd at the church, with many in the audience members of Coastal Maine Aquatics, the swim team Crocker belonged to while growing up in Portland.
"I thought it was amazing," said Amelia Lundkvist. "I wasn't expecting Phelps to win."
Prior to the race, the 15-year-old from South Portland was more ambivalent.
"Michael (Phelps) is really good. I don't know," she said. "I mean, it would be really good to beat him because (Phelps) is such an animal."
Lundkvist, who started swimming more than seven years ago, attends Cheverus High School, where Crocker graduated in 2000.
Coastal Maine trains swimmers from the age of 6 up to 25, and has more than 160 people in the program, depending on the season, said head coach Leanne Gravel, Jerry's mom.
She said the kids identify with swimmers like Crocker and Phelps because they've been through the same things, from learning the names of strokes to perfecting their form.
The Olympic competition "highlights how much it takes to get to that level," she said.
Gravel said her students know that it can be a grueling process to get to where Crocker is today, and that it takes dedication and long hours. "It's a choice."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205034&ac=PHnws
Photos By Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
