What do Olympic swimmers and baton twirlers have in common?
If you watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics, you heard about Michael Phelps. The superstar Olympian combined years of hard work, determination, discipline, tremendous ability, and a bit of luck to break numerous swimming records and tie Mark Spitz’s record of 7 gold medals in a single Olympics. The world wondered if he could break the tie and win an eighth medal. There was something very significant about the event that would allow Phelps to become the man with the most gold medals. It wasn’t just up to him to succeed. The event was a relay — Phelps would have to depend on three other men to swim well enough to win the event in order for Phelps to get that last gold. The relay team had some well-known swimmers, record holders and medal winners in their own right. Some were stronger than others, yet any one of them had the potential to jeopardize Michael Phelps’ bid for the final gold. Phelps had to depend on his teammates to do their best if he was to earn that medal. The men swimming on
