Saturday,  August 4, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 021 • 24 of 29 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 23)

where the record was broken, said shortly after he made the jump. "There was a lot of emotion and a lot of days where we should have got it. But we dug down deep and stuck at it."
• Following months of planning, tryouts and camps to decide who could take part in the dangerous challenge, the record breakers squeezed into six aircraft and launched themselves into the air at 18,500 feet. Flying at such a high altitude presents a risk of altitude sickness, so the skydivers and pilots used oxygen tanks aboard the planes.
• Four camera operators shooting video and stills jumped with the 138 participants to record their achievement for the FAI judges. Those images are key, said co-organizer Mike Swanson, a professional skydiver who base jumped from Willis Tower and its fellow Chicago skyscraper Trump Tower for the movie "Transformers 3."

• ___

Going out in style: Phelps looks to close brilliant career with 18th Olympic gold medal

• LONDON (AP) -- One more race. Two more laps. And, in all likelihood, an 18th gold medal for Michael Phelps.
• His final Olympics is turning into quite a victory lap.
• Phelps will wrap up his swimming career Saturday with the butterfly leg of 4x100 medley relay, an event the U.S. men have never lost. That streak should carry right on with the Americans sending out an imposing quartet that includes three gold medalists (Phelps, freestyler Nathan Adrian and backstroker Matt Grevers), plus a guy who won bronze (breaststroker Brendan Hansen).
• "I don't think Michael is going to let anything go wrong in that race," said Eric Shanteau, who swam on the U.S. relay in Friday's prelims.
• Indeed, it's unfathomable to think the Phelps era could end with anything less than a performance that puts him atop the podium one last time, with yet another gold medal around his neck.
• ___



(Continued on page 25)

© 2012 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.