Michael Phelps tears swim cap, wins 21st gold medal anyway

Swimming at Olympic levels requires precise preparation, an attention to detail that borders on the monomaniacal. Every element of a swimmer’s life and routine must function exactly as expected, at exactly the right moment.

So when Michael Phelps tore his swim cap moments before preparing to dive into the pool to swim the final leg of the 4×200 freestyle relay on Tuesday night, well, you could have forgiven him for being more than a little ticked.

But this is Michael Phelps, the guy who’d won 20 gold medals up to that point, including one earlier in the evening in the 200m butterfly. Phelps doesn’t rattle easily. Not only that, Phelps could’ve swam this race in a football helmet and sunglasses and probably come out gold.

Cameras caught Phelps’ cap ripping as he tried to put it on for the anchor leg of the relay. He called to Conor Dwyer, who’d just completed his leg, and borrowed Dwyer’s cap. Moments later, Phelps was in the water, and very soon after that, he had his 21st gold medal. (If anyone’s got the scraps of that cap, sell ’em on eBay.)

The moral, then: don’t ever freak out. Gold awaits those who stay cool … and rely on their teammates.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.