He swam so improbably fast, mak-ing up so much ground in a foaming, desperate attempt to reach the wall first in the 4x100-meter relay, that Jason Lezak not only won a gold medal for the United States on August 11, but he also helped to shatter the world record by nearly four seconds. That race alone would have provided an astonishing day of swimming at the Summer Olympics, but it was the third world record of the morning and the seventh in three days of com-petition. An eighth record was set later that day, matching the total number broken at the 2004 Athens Games.
他游泳速度破表，努力衝刺，在水花四濺中，情急拚命，試圖在400公尺游泳接力中率先碰觸到牆，李塞克不只在8月11日為美國隊勇奪一金，也以四秒之差，協助粉碎世界紀錄。單單是這項比賽就足以使今夏京運游泳項目有個令人跌破眼鏡的一天。這已是那天早上第三項世界新紀錄，同時也是三天泳賽中第七項。那天稍後又刷新第八項紀錄，平了2004年雅典奧運總共改寫的紀錄。
Advances in training techniques, pool design and swimsuit technology have contributed to the increases in speed for swimmers, who also enjoy financial incentives that allow them to remain in the sport longer than they would have two decades ago, when the Olympics were restricted to ama-teurs. If Phelps breaks the record of seven swimming gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he will receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo, the swimsuit manufacturer.
訓練技術進步、泳池設計和泳衣科技，在在促成游泳選手速度加快，何況他們還享有金錢誘因，使他們留在運動界的時間，足足比20年前奧運僅限業餘選手參加時要長。如果菲爾普斯打破史畢茲1972年在慕尼黑奧運所拿下的七金（譯註：菲爾普斯已成功奪八金），他將可拿到全球第一泳衣品牌Speedo的一百萬美元贊助獎金。
At the same time, some swimming officials are questioning whether the multitude of records devalues each one and whether human performance is being unduly aided by technology.
但同時，有些游泳官員質疑是否一大堆世界新紀錄，反而自貶身價，及人類的表現是否不當得到科技之助。
“When technology is used in a sport, it is important to be in control of the way it is being developed and where it might lead us,” Claude Fauquet, the technical director of the French swimming federation, said in reference to swimsuit technology. Fauquet has called for more debate about the use of Speedo’s LZR Racer, the latest advance in the full-body suit craze popularized in the last eight years. The Racer has been worn in the setting of about four dozen world records since its intro-duction in February. The corsetlike suit is made by ultrasonic welding in-stead of stitching, can require a half-hour to put on and shoehorns the body into a more streamlined po-sition.
「當競賽運用到科技時，重要的是它的研發方式，及將帶領我們往何處去，要嚴加掌控，」法國游泳協會技術指導法奎談到科技泳裝時說。法奎並呼籲，應針對Speedo研發俗稱「沙魚皮」的太空時代泳裝多加討論，這是過去八年來風靡泳壇包貼全身泳裝的最新進展。自二月上市以來，在約四、五十項破世界紀錄的賽事中，選手都穿沙魚皮。這種像緊身衣的泳裝，是由超聲波焊接，而不是用針縫合，光是穿上它就要花半個鐘頭，並把身體硬是擠壓成比較流線型的體位。
Critics suspect that the suit aids buoyancy in the water, in violation of performance-enhancing rules set by the international swimming federation, known as FINA. Alberto Castagnetti, the Italian national swim coach whose team wears a rival brand, has equated the Racer with "technologi-cal doping." Some say the suit can boost performance as much as 2 per-cent; that can mean the difference between a gold medalist and an al-so-ran. "I think sports have to keep up with technology," said Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who set a world record August 11 while wear-ing the Racer in a preliminary round of the women's 100-meter back-stroke. "It's a great suit. For me, putting the suit on, mentally, it's time to go fast."
論者懷疑，這種泳裝有助於提高水中浮力，這違反了簡稱FINA的「國際游泳聯合會」所立下的規定。義大利國家游泳隊教練卡斯塔內提把「沙魚皮」比為「科技禁藥」，雖然義大利泳隊也穿競爭品牌的科技泳裝。有人說，這款泳裝可以提高成績達2%，分秒必爭下，這可決定金牌和銀牌間的差距。「我認為運動要跟上科技的腳步，」辛巴威的克絲蒂．柯文特里說，她8月11日穿著沙魚皮在女子百米仰式初賽中打破世界紀錄。「這種泳裝超讚，對我而言，一穿上這種泳裝，在心態上就準備加速衝刺。」
More sophisticated pool design has also helped to dissipate wave action. The pool in Beijing is three meters deep, compared with two meters for many racing pools. The added depth is designed to lessen resistance. For major international competitions, like the Olympics, the pool is 10 lanes wide, instead of 8. The two empty outside lanes serve as buffers, keeping the waves from ricocheting, dispersing them instead to a gutter system that is flush with the surface of the water. The plastic buoys that serve as lane dividers are designed to direct water downward instead of outward. The nonskid starting blocks are meant to facilitate a propulsive takeoff, similar to track and field, which can shave valuable ticks off the clock.
比較尖端精密的泳池設計也有助於消除波浪的動作。北京水立方的泳池是三米深，相形之下，很多競賽用泳池只有兩米深。加大深度是設計來減緩阻力。對重大的國際賽事像奧運，泳池通常有十個水道寬，北京只有八個。外面兩個空水道可以起緩衝減震作用，使波浪不致彈跳飛射，反而分散這些波浪到一個排水系統中，其中注滿表面的水。分隔水道的塑膠浮標用來導引水流向下而不是朝外。防滑起跑器則是用來幫助推動腳踝蹬離地，類似田徑賽，可以減掉寶貴的時間。
As swimming becomes more pop-ular, it attracts better athletes, who often stay in the sport for more than one Olympics and have access to in-creasingly sophisticated sports science. Swimmers who once concentrated mostly on endurance now spend up to 50 percent of their training on re-fining the technical aspects of kicking, pulling, breathing and body position, said Genadijus Sokolovas, director of sports science for USA Swimming. American swimmers in Beijing are accompanied by four sports-science experts. Each race is videotaped. Im-mediately after a race, each swimmer has an ear pricked to test for lac-tic-acid levels. After a warm-down swim, video analysis is made available to monitor stroke counts, distance per stroke, split times, and the biome-chanics of takeoffs and turns.
隨著游泳愈來愈受歡迎，它也吸引更優秀的運動員，他們通常不只參加一屆奧運，也得以接觸日益尖端精密的運動科學。美國游泳運動科學主管索科洛斯說，過去游泳選手主要側重耐力訓練，如今他們至少花一半訓練時間提升踢、拉、呼吸和體位的技術面。這次到北京的美國游泳選手共有四位運動科學專家隨行。每場比賽全程錄影。賽後每個泳者耳朵立刻用針扎一下，驗血漿乳酸濃度值。游畢做完放鬆動作，影帶分析立刻監測划水次數，每次划水距離，分段成績，及起跳和轉身的生物力學。
"You probably can't stop technolo-gy from coming into any sport. If athletes want to swim faster, technol-ogy will always be there. I don't see it as bad. It's good for the popularity of swimming. And what is the goal of sport A healthier nation," said Sokolovas.
「你可能擋不住科技進入任何運動。如果運動員希望游更快，科技永遠不會缺席。我並不認為這有什麼不好，至少有助於游泳更普及，畢竟運動的目標是什麼？不外是全民更健康罷了，」索科洛斯說。