On SwimSwam Podcast, we’re giving you an in-depth listen at all things swimming. Host Coleman Hodges welcomes guests and guest co-hosts alike to get perspective on our ever-changing swimming universe and break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
We sat down with Milo Cavic, the legendary Serbian swimmer who almost took down Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics in the 100 fly. Milo recalls an interesting story from that night: as he was walking to the ready room for the final of the 100 fly, he sees his childhood friend, Aaron Peirsol. Peirsol had won a gold medal in the 100 back earlier in the meet, and Cavic goes up to congratulate him. However, Peirsol makes it a point to not let Cavic touch his gold medal. Why? Because Peirsol says in order to touch gold, you have to earn it.
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
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Cavic had one event all week and wore a full bodysuit and still couldn’t beat a dude on his sixteenth swim in leggings.
How many Olympic medals do you have?
Is it possible to get more information about the 1980 Olympic Team?
History I know about the boycott and why it happened, but I don’t know the timeline. Was the swim team selected before this was announced, or did they go into trials knowing they would not be going? Also what other sports had teams selected? Did anyone (all sports) from the US go to Moscow and compete under the Olympic banner?
I would love to learn about that also! It would also be great to read about the same questions and outcomes for when the Soviets and East Germany boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
I was on the other side (Hungary) at the time.We didn’t know until just a month before the Olympics that the team was grounded and would go to some BS goodwill games in Moscow instead. I am pretty sure it was decided that if Russia is not going (which was announced 2 months earlier) NO ONE is going. And then of course NO ONE would exclude Romania and Yugoslavia – which we also didn’t know until the last week. (I understood how Yugoslavia got away with it but not Romania) It was a mess. It felt like COVID times for sure, from another planet. There was a lot of “WTF” moments and anger and depression. I do remember that it… Read more »
Someone fact check this, but I seem to recall RL not being ranked nationally until his late teens.
The 1984-85 age group was pretty fun looking back.
You had Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Milorad Cavic and Kris Humphries duking it out in the U10 national rankings.
re: out-touched Phelps – with Lezak’s 100 free relay, it was just Phelp’s Olympics, he just made it exciting
He was born in Anaheim, I would not label him as Serbian, but up to him, I guess
Crazy he was born in Socal. Swam at the best age group program probably in the country under Pajer than Salo.
Then went to Cal Berkley but swam for Serbia in 2008. So thats why Serbs say he is 100% Serbian.
His parents are from Serbia, and he could go to the Olympics as a teenager in 2000. If you’re fast enough to make Olympic A cuts and you can swim in the Olympica that young it might hard to resist.
I do wonder if he swam for the USA in 2008 would Phelps have done the 100 Fly with Crocker still swimming.
Cavic is an interesting guy… What was that part about Mike Bottom living vicariously through his swimmers though? Weird.
Made sense to me. Mike didn’t have the opportunity to compete at the Olympics due to boycott, so his goal/purpose is to help others reach the olympics and experience what he was not able to. By doing so, he is filling that void of his own. Obviously, it doesn’t take away from the swimmer experience. Just adds more of a purpose.
You would understand if you’ve met the guy
Is it just me or is he underrated
Not just you
Very, and I’m still convinced he out touched Phelps.
If we’re talking physically touched the wall first then yes Cavic did so. But unfortunately for him, it’s who touched the wall hard enough to register a time that ended up winning. Would’ve completely rewrote Phelps narrative in 08. A fantastic swimmer nevertheless!! So much raw speed
Totally did not realize this was the situation until this conversation. I always thought Phelps touched first, but no. Phelps just touched harder. Makes you think twice about touchpads (not saying they’re invalid, just makes me think)
The idea that Cavic touched the pads first but not forcefully enough to register is just an urban legend. This was only preliminary speculation that unfortunately took on a life of its own and persists to this day on seemingly reputable internet sites. The frame by frame underwater shots clearly show that Phelps touched the wall first. This actually laid the controversy to rest pretty early on. As a further sanity check, Cavic’s fingertip would travel about 1 cm unimpeded at gliding speed in 0.005 seconds. If his fingertip was on the wall first, it would have certainly registered as a touch within that period, so a tie would have been the worse case scenario for him. There are ties… Read more »
This is absolutely an urban legend. Phelps not only activated the pad first but outtouched Cavic. For Pete’s sake everyone, there is a photo by Heinz Klutemeier of Sports Illustrated that clearly shows Phelps touched first, his fingers bent back, before Cavic even touches the wall. Do a simple Google search. The photo is easy to find. Stop it with this nonsense. Phelps won outright, fair and square.
I google-searched it, this image came up… kinda looks like cavic touching first to me (and then obviously Phelps touching “enough to register” first)
https://sport.mediamax.am/en/news/one-shot/29881
Here is the conclusive photo … Cavic is just barely off the wall here while Phelps fingers are already substantially bent on the wall. Margin of victory > 1 cm. Omega breathed a sigh of relief and did not need to continue with the contrived “force of touch” explanation to save face.
https://www.si.com/olympics/2012/07/24/24-phelps-frame-by-frame#&gid=ci025584cc10072580&pid=phelps-miracle-finish-MTY4MTg2NTcxMTk0MzEyMDY0
does the wall have to be touched by both hands the same time?
Looks kinda like Phelps rotated and reached with one arm more. Like more pressure on left hand. Do touch pads register the force at point of contact?
it appears quite obvious who the winner is based on the picture
That’s a great frame-by-frame. And quite telling.
from all the pictures and the footage, it kind of feels like Cavic almost reach the wall – stopped just a 1/10 of a mm away while Phelps touched.
It’s tough to tell as Cavic’s hands are under water and Phelps above in looking at that picture. Cavic has to be kicking himself for finishing with his head up like that.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way (and I say this being not the biggest Michael Phelps fan). MP touched the wall first, period. You see how Cavic’s fingers are fully extended horizontally in that picture? Yeah, no 6’5″ 200+ pound man (or any adult swimmer for that matter) going 50. something in the 100 fly, touches the wall like that unless they want to break fingers. Picture #2 clearly shows MP’s fingers on the pad vertically and it absolutely clear that Cavic had not touched yet. Let’s get this one out there too. Cavic did not “die” or swim a great 95 meters as some have commented. He swam a perfect race for 99 meters and… Read more »
Coleman – looks to me that in this pic, NEITHER of them have actually touched yet.
If anyone wants to know what Phelps thought about it, 60 Minutes did an interview with him. He said that the reason Cavic lost, was rather than streamlining INTO the wall, he made the mistake of lifting his head which stopped his forward momentum allowing Phelps to hit the wall first. He said out right that if Cavic had kept his head down rather than up, he would have won. It is clear in the footage that Cavic lifts his head while Phelps stayed low giving him that little bit of momentum to get him to the wall first.
He did out touch him. The reason Phelps won is because he triggered the Pad first. Since Cavic was gliding and Phelps took a half stroke, Cavic didn’t press the pad hard enough, and although he touched it first, Phelps applied the requisite amount of pressure before Cavic. Weird stuff, but if there wasn’t a minimum amount of pressure needed, the wake from everyone diving in would stop the clock.
Do we have to do this all over again?
It’s not that he “didn’t touch the pad hard enough.” He touched it plenty hard. It’s just that his full clock-stopping touch was done AFTER Phelps did his. And that’s the actual race that was being swum – the one that stops the clock. If you want to say Cavic won the mythical “feather touch race” that’s fine, but there’s no medals for that one.
Exactly @swimgeek, that’s a good way to put it. Cavic swam a great 95 m, but he ran out of steam inside the flags and lifted his head before touching the pad, allowing Phelps to out-touch him as he came home like a steam train. Some have speculated that this was a mistake on Cavic’s part, but I think he was just exhausted and couldn’t help it.
This is a good point and I agree with it. The odd thing is that swimming is always branded as “who ever touches the wall first” and It’s a weird realization to have that that statement isn’t EXACTLY accurate
for a split second (1/100th of a second), the wall should be super-sensitive
Phelps touched first. Phelps won 8 golds in 2008. Phelps won in 09. We can keep going over it if you want.
Be a gracious loser.
I was not trying to start a debate about it. It’s been 12 years, common knowledge for the technical reason.
Either way they both broke 50 seconds the following summer and Phelps clearly won.
Phelps should have been DQ’d for non simultaneous touch (left then right). Just saying
This is not baseball with a challenge call on every bang-bang play