One relay swimmer was posing on the starting block, flexing both arms at the crowd. Another was still in the water, climbing up on the lane line and falling over backward. It was the kind of celebration the men's freestyle relay teams from the US and Australia revel in all the time.
The Olympic stage on Sunday was all set for that, the next chapter in the storied rivalry of those countries, but this time four obscure guys from South Africa crashed the 400m freestyle relay party. They howled in joy as the rest of a stunned field tried to absorb the finish. The Americans winced at the idea of their bronze medal and consoled each other. The Australians had it even worse, reeling with a sixth-place finish. Only the Netherlands joined in the fun, rollicking in celebration of their silver medal.
"This was our day," said the South African Roland Mark Schoeman, who swam the leadoff leg that put his team in the lead from the first stroke. "As the movie says, `Any Given Sunday.' For the relay, I told the guys, `This is our Sunday.'"
But this was truly an odd Sunday in the swimming world. The victory earned the South African men their first ever swimming gold, with an unlikely team of Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling.
Not only did the US team lose this relay for only the second time in history, but the stalwart Gary Hall Jr. was not even swimming in it, having swum so slowly in the morning heat that Neil Walker replaced him on the team.
Michael Phelps swam the second leg and watched his chances of winning seven gold medals get even steeper, though he still has as many as six races left to improve on the one gold he has won so far.
The oddities, however, only started there. The men's 100m breaststroke ended with an exuberant Kosuke Kitajima of Japan slapping the water in delight at his gold medal, while the US's Brendan Hansen, the world record holder, was crestfallen at finishing second. Hansen's teammates quickly cried foul -- claiming Kitajima did an illegal dolphin kick after his turn -- but Hansen avoided accusing Kitajima of a violation.
And just to add to the quirks, Laure Manaudou became the first French woman to win an Olympic swimming gold, with a victory in the 400m freestyle. In fact, Manaudou won France's second swimming gold ever; the first was in 1952.
In the 100m butterfly, the Australian Petria Thomas finally got the gold medal she has been chasing for three Olympics, and through three shoulder operations and a reconstructed ankle; Jenny Thompson of the US finished a distant fifth.
Kaitlin Sandeno grabbed an unlikely medal for the US, coming from behind to win a bronze in the 400m freestyle. Sandeno, swimming in four events here, has been half-jokingly called the female Michael Phelps, a comparison she dislikes. She did not much care what people were saying after her first two races, a silver-medal finish in the 400m individual medley on Saturday and this one. For Sandeno, not expected to contend in the 400m freestyle, bronze was a lovely color.
"I'm really happy," she said. "I'm 2-for-2."
Phelps also finished the day 2-for-2, but without Sandeno's smile. Phelps swam the second leg of the relay after coaches chose to place him on the team, but he hardly ended the day as its controversial figure. He swam a respectable leg, but by the time he dove in the water, South Africa had a huge lead.
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