The Olympic swimming competitions wrapped up on Sunday after eight exciting days that saw 32 gold medals and 25 world records shattered. Following are some snapshots of the Olympic swimmers.
THE UNBEATABLE
Michael Phelps says he is not unbeatable, but he was at this Olympics. Eight golds, seven new records, the 23-year-old American has become the biggest winner of any Games so far. He was called the god of swimming, the extra-terrestrial, and his name, in Chinese translation, has become part of the Chinese vocabulary, synonymous with never-losing.
Also formidable is Japan's stoic-faced Kosuke Kitajima, a double-double breaststroke champion. With two world records and two Olympic gold medals, he has announced his dominance in breaststroke. A website established for the "king" is suitably named the Frogtown.
Australian Stephanie Rice, a 20-year-old Olympic debutante, is entitled to be in the league. She took home two golds in the 200m and 400m individual medley and one relay gold in 4X200m freestyle. She is the only female triple gold medalist at the Games.
LOST, AND FOUND
This is a storyline shared by two Australian women, Libby Trickett and Leisel Jones. In Athens, both went home without an individual gold medal. This time, they harvested the gold medals that had eluded them, Trickett in 100m butterfly and Jones in 100m breaststroke. The duo, along with other teammates, also put together a record-breaking race to win the 4X100m medley gold.
Both Australians say they have grown up from Athens, focusing on the race rather than the outcome. With such an attitude, they learn not to rue the losses in other events.
When Trickett finished second in the 100m freestyle, she said she couldn't care less. Jones disagreed when others said she "lost" the 200m breaststroke.
"Probably in the past, I would've looked at it as a loss, but now I am just so grateful for every performance. To get a silver medal at an Olympic is pretty good. To continuously be at the same level for three Olympics is a quite difficult job," she said.
NATIONAL HEROES
For these swimmers, they jumped into the water carrying the weight of their whole country.
Park Tae-hwan, an 18-year-old swimming prodigy, won the first swimming gold for South Korea in the 400m freestyle. Cesar Filho Cielo, 21, upstaged in the men's 50m freestyle to win the first swimming gold for Brazil. Tunisian Oussama Mellouli again duplicated the type of success when he claimed the Olympic title of 1,500m freestyle.
In the women's league, Kirsty Coventry is the national heroin of Zimbabwe. She won the gold of 200m backstroke and three silvers, and has been the sole medal contributor to her country in Beijing.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
When the two 19-year-olds touched the wall first, many people's jaws dropped. China's Liu Zige "flied" to win the 200m butterfly race, upsetting favourite Australian Jessicah Schipper. With a world record at two minutes 4.18 seconds, she is the only Chinese swimmer on the record book.
Britain's Rebbecca Adlington surprised everyone when she won the 400m freestyle and surprised again when she took the 800m free race. She doesn't have a long list of swimming achievements, but she has become the first British woman to win a swimming gold since 1960, and she also shattered the oldest swimming record in the 800m.