Tonight is the last night for swimming at the 2004 games. The meet has been great to watch. Not too many world records were set because of the Athens' heat, but competition was as hot as the weather. As far as I know, NBC covered the entire meet. Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines did yeoman's work behind the mic. The underwater cameras revealed a side of swimming we never see and the computer graphics with the flags of the swimmers, the race leader and the WR line were very, very cool.

Americans also fared incredibly well. Michael Phelps didn't live up to the hype, but how could he? His quest to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games was unrealistic, but his performance was still insane and he's only 19 years old and, this is scary, will only get better. How could you not love Gary Hall, Jr. in the 50 free? Aaron Peirsol stayed cool in the face of controversy and came home with two wins. Amanda Beard and Natalie Coughlin were scintillating on the women's side.

Despite the American dominance, there were many standout performances by the rest of the world. Inge de Bruijn from the Netherlands. Ian Thorpe, of course, and the rest of the Aussie team including Grant Hackett and Petria Thomas. Kitajima from Japan outswam Brendan Hansen in both breaststoke events. Yana Klochkova of Ukraine defended both her 200 and 400 IM golds which had never been done before. Kristy Coventry won the first swimming medals of any kind Zimbabwe, gold in the 200 backstroke, silver in the 100 backstroke and bronze in the 200 IM. The South African world record in the 4x100 free relay was probably the best moment in the most exciting race of the event, the only possible exception being the 4x200 where Klete Keller just out-touched a charging Ian Thorpe for the gold.

With the meet in Athens ending, this will probably be the last swimming event shown on TV in the states until partial coverage of the Olympic trials in 2008 before Beijing. I think this is sad and I don't really understand it. This is a sport where Americans dominate so thoroughly (look no further than the medley relays if you want proof). I don't know what the ratings are like, but NBC pumps up the swimming in a big way, which Michael Phelps alerts and the like. But after the games, swimming, like so many of the will disappear off the radar for another 4 years.

It's not like these athletes are mothballed and stuck in cold storage until the next Olympics come around. There are World Championships. There's the Pan-Am Games (who remembers that?). There's the Pan-Pacific Swimming Championships, outside of the World Championships, the most significant swimming-only competition in the world (to be held in Vancouver in 2006, btw). There's the US Nationals.

When I lived in Australia, swimming was all over the places, so I know these events are being covered, just not by the American media. It's possible that Michael Phelps huge celebrity will change all this, but I doubt it. We most likely won't see him swim again until Beijing.