WYWW Shining Moments: This Phelps fan remembers a big win from 2008

Twelve years ago, I was a graduate student at Northwestern University, ready to root for Team USA in the Beijing Summer Olympics. I felt a special connection to the Games, since I grew up in the same suburban Baltimore neighborhood and went to the same high school as Michael Phelps, and like the rest of the country, I was eager to see if he would succeed in his quest for eight gold medals.

His success depended in part on his teammates, and in the finals of the men’s 4-by-100 freestyle relay, they came through in a big way, beating the favored French team by eight one-hundredths of a second thanks to an amazing anchor leg by Jason Lezak. Michael would go on to meet his goal and compete in two more Olympics before retiring, but for me, nothing will ever top that race — and his reaction.

— Cathy Guiles