Laps Of The God

The sound of a gun the training is done, The strength of that thought is the tale of lap one
All eyes on him the kid who could swim, The journey the conquest the race has begun

And destiny's stream takes him back to that dream, The gods of ability knew
With brilliance to burn he attacks the first turn, Then prepares to dismantle lap two
An ominous glide a sensational ride, Lap three is for passion lap four is for pride
The proof is alive on the crest of lap five, Where natural born talent and hard work collide

In the wake of lap six, the machine click, click, clicks, His aqua-blessed engine is revvin’
Cruise control mode nothing stands in his road, As he drives to the end of lap seven

“Bring on lap eight! Yeah we're lovin' it mate!”, Lap nine sends a sign and the feeling is 'fate‘
The same thing again marks the chlorine of ten, The 'eye of the tiger' his deadliest trait

A quick glimpse of heaven unveils lap eleven, But hell must be visited first
For the pain tingles delve in the stroke of lap twelve, And at thirteen, the comfort zones burst


His heart starts to show when the fourteenth's in flow, Lap fifteen means that there's fifteen to go
But there's no rest to take for an oranges break, The lap sixteen rooster is starting to crow

Seventeen's swum for his Dad and his Mum, Family - the beacon that guides him
Eighteen's the millions of Aussie civilians, That, on lap nineteen, vocally prides him

Twenty his age on the ultimate stage, Sydney 2000 he wrote a new page
Lap twenty one and his arms weigh a ton, But there's 450 left and a battle to wage

Twenty two - twenty three crank it up turn the key, His world record memory shimmers
But it won't break today he's been sick the whole way, Unknown to the rest of the swimmers

Or the fans who now roar to spur lap twenty four, Then twenty five reasons to give them some more
For the field's giving chase in this memorable race, And lap twenty six hurts like never before

For those not so sold on the prospect of gold, They will try and come close to his wave
But he's hungrier still and he lives for the kill, So lap twenty seven is brave


Lap twenty eight he increases his rate, Most athletes are good a select few are great
Lap twenty nine “This baby's mine, No one will take it I'm shutting the gate”


And this is the thing he performs like a king, But he's Aussie as mates on a track
He respects every race and he senses his place, And the shiver's the same down his back

So for all of the years and the trophies and tears, All of the legend that folklore reveres
All the support and the things he was taught, All of the guts that a true rival fears

He grinds and he finds and a new tale unwinds, That first morning lap can be dirty
But it now serves him well in the wild victory yell, That triumphantly follows lap thirty

His anthem rings out and he sings it with clout, By the look on his face, this is what it's about
The ultimate packet the hero Grant Hackett, Remembered forever of that, have no doubt

Rupert McCall 2004