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David Goldman takes a closer look at his AP photo of triathlon swimming.
Why this photo?
It’s very rare to have this perspective of swimming. We typically photograph it from the side or head-on or even from in the water or underwater. But to have a bird’s-eye view of this congestion in an open-water swim event is very unusual. From land it’s hard to see just how on top of each other the swimmers are, and we’re usually photographing it from far away using long lenses. I’ve photographed triathlon at the past three Olympics and have never seen this. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it through my viewfinder, the physicality of how they were all getting kicked and trampled. They were literally swimming over each other jostling for position.
How I made this photo
We had two other photographers in designated positions for the swim event. My position was for the bike road race. But I had some time before that so I tried to do something on the swim portion, except it had to be outside the security perimeter and the dedicated Olympic photo spots. The next bridge down from where the start took place was open and I was allowed to hang out there. I tried to make a picture of the start from there, but it didn’t really work. So the next photo I had a chance at would be when they swam under the bridge. It was OK, but they were still spread out as they swam with the current. Once they turned the lap and came back, they had to swim against the current, and they all came back up along the bank of the river, where it isn’t as strong. There wasn’t a lot of room and they all chose the same line to swim, so you could see the congestion, and I just shot straight down over the side of the bridge with a relatively loose lens for sports, an 85mm.
Why this photo works
This photo works because I’m seeing a sport I’ve covered before in a whole new way. You really get a sense of the intensity of the moment, along with the pops of colors from bathing suits and swim caps. Swimmers are getting kicked in the head, some bodies are underwater, some heads are popping up to see where they can maneuver all while in the splashing white water, which gives you the impression that this a contact sport. And I never would have thought that about triathlon swimming.
