Olympic Gold Medalist Roland Schoeman Races Murphy the Swimming Dog

Roland Schoeman. 32 years old. 190 pounds. Three World Championships. 3 Olympic medals. 1 Olympic gold medal.
Murphy Lee. 1 year old. 80 pounds. Yellow Lab. No Olympic medals. Purina Pro Club Blue Ribbon Dog.

In a 24 meter dash at the Phoenix Swim Club this week, Murphy Lee McCaffrey showed off against international swimming star Roland Schoeman, and gave true meaning to the “dog days of summer” in 120-degree Phoenix.

Murphy the swimming dog roared to victory in what some pundits called “the race of the century.”

Garrett McCaffrey, owner and coach of Murphy said of his primary pupil, “Starts and finishes have been the focus, especially those last 5 meters. We’re not quite there yet on those last 5 meters, but it’s good to come away with the win.” McCaffrey hedged his bets in the race – as the new head coach of the Phoenix Swim Club, he was assured to be on the winning end of this battle for the ages.

Murphy, a dog of few words, had only one thing to say: “ruff,” which his translators ensured us means, “I wouldn’t have wanted to win against anyone else. I consider Roland to be one of my best friends both in and out of the pool, and I know he’ll be back and better than ever to challenge me next time.”

Murphy has been clocked at 1:01 in the 50 and 2:16 in the 100 in LCM (no, really, they timed him).

Schoeman’s next hominid competition will be the upcoming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, where he’ll represent his native South Africa.

11
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

11 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Beckett the Labrador
11 years ago

Way to go, Murphy Lee! You poor humans look so awkward in the water, not graceful like us dogs. But it’s good that you try. Keep it up!

Dave R
11 years ago

Classic! Murphy Lee looks a lot like Zumbali! Great video

Kris
11 years ago

My favorite part was when Murphy Lee got distracted. such a typical dog move.

aswimfan
Reply to  Kris
11 years ago

He only wanted to give Roland a fighting chance.

Evilwatersprite
11 years ago

I love the hell out of my beagle mix but it sort of bums me out that she doesn’t like to swim. She can swim fine — esp. if she misjudges the depth but she’s more of a wader/stream forder.

Jg
11 years ago

There are few things better than seeing swimming dogs swim. There is a special look on a dog’s face when they are doing what they are born for – huskies hauling sleds , labs swimming , whippets running ,terriers terrier ing .

We humans we have our OCDs but they never look happy.

Dogs 1 people 0 .

11 years ago

I see a great future in this sport. I wonder how Murphy will perform in the short course season…

Jack
Reply to  Fares Ksebati
11 years ago

I don’t know, it will be hard for him to do a turn 🙂 Probably more of a long course swimmer

Swammer
11 years ago

Garrett, are you coaching Schoeman?

Wonkabar23
Reply to  Swammer
11 years ago

Murphy Lee. I can see Garrett still has a little Mizzou in him naming his dog after a St Lunatic

Roland
Reply to  Swammer
11 years ago

Swammer, Garret is the Head Coach at Phoenix SC. I am still being coached full time by Aaron Ciarla, Nick Folker and overseen by Takahisa Ide from Phoenix SC

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »