The New Exchange / History

**Posted by Goose** 8/12/2016 8:46 am

Simone Manuel managed to make history and break a record, all in less than a minute.

Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual event in Olympic swimming on Thursday night. She and Penny Oleksiak of Canada tied for the fastest time, an Olympic record in the women’s 100-meter freestyle: 52.70 seconds.

“I definitely think it raises some awareness and will get them inspired,” Manuel, 20, said about the significance of her accomplishment. “I mean, the gold medal wasn’t just for me. It was for people that came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport. For people who believe that they can’t do it, I hope I’m an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it.”

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing

**Posted by Goose** 8/12/2016 9:32 am

Michael Phelps is used to rewriting history -- now he's eclipsing it too.

You have to go back around 2,160 years, give a week or two, to find an athlete who could challenge the imperious record held by the "Baltimore Bullet."

The US star claimed the 22nd Olympic gold of his Olympic career Thursday after powering past the opposition in the final of the 200-meter individual medley.

That victory, the 13th individual triumph of his Olympics career, meant he surpassed the greatest athlete of ancient Greece and indeed of the Games -- Leonidas of Rhodes

**Posted by TheLagerLad** 8/12/2016 10:01 am

Manuel winning the Gold and her reaction to it in the pool was pretty my favorite Olympic moment since Kerry Strug stuck the landing on that broken ankle and Bela Karolyi carried her off the mat in the '96 Atlanta games.

And as for Phelps, forget about it. That dude is amazing.