Loyal readers know this blogger is a serious swimming enthusiast, and major Olympics fan to boot. Needless to say, this past week has been like no other for yours truly.

After having a couple days to think about it, there is one twist to the Michael Phelps saga that bears special mention: its affect outside the swimming world.

Pat Forde at ESPN has perhaps the most complete yet succinct reflection on what Phelps accomplished, including this:

Before these Games, the prevailing sentiment I heard was that the Olympics had lost its allure. They were considered passe. Too long and too arcane and too compromised by drugs and politics and commercialism. In Football America, fewer people than ever seemed to care.

And then, Phelps zipped up his Speedo and got busy.

By the time he finished, America had gone nuts over a swimmer. Nuts like it doesn't even go over football, baseball and basketball players. Nuts like perhaps only Tiger Woods can understand.

Phelps has an idea how nuts, but he probably won't realize his full impact until he returns home later this week.

Across the United States, bars were erupting in cheers when Phelps won. His races were shown on giant video screens at Major League Baseball and National Football League games and on the big screen in Times Square. The morning conversation in offices everywhere was the same: "Did you see Michael Phelps last night?"

NBA superstars - in many ways the modern antithesis of the ideal Olympic athlete - cheered at the Water Cube like little kids. The fans at Qwest Field paused from the merriment at the Seahawks game this weekend to cheer lustily at the news of Phelps's 8th, announced over the PA system almost immediately upon the medal being won.

In a bawdy twist, a college buddy of mine shares tale of a bachelor party he attended Saturday evening, which included a stop at a...uh...gentleman's club. At said gathering spot was a big screen TV showing the Olympics. That night many more patrons were watching and loudly cheering for the final swimming relay giving Phelps his 8th than those that were still paying attention to the, uh, "entertainers."

Needless to say, this is not the standard order of priorities at a strip club.

How on God's Green Earth did that happen?

Ultimately, it was that monster 400 Free Relay on Sunday the 10th, with Jason Lezak's now famous anchor leg that started really it. Sure, swimming fans could have told you going into the event - as Rowdy Gaines's TV call attests - that the event was shaping up to be a huge showdown. Indeed, those same swimming fans could have told you that even after Athens, Michael Phelps had already established himself as the greatest swimmer of all time. The program he attempted there and in Beijing, with its requirement of eight days in a row of intense competition, coupled with the diversity of the events he swims, is simply mind-boggling.

But that doesn't explain much at all about why that event added a layer of enthusiasm on to what would already be a much-watched quest for eight gold medals. What drew even the most casual of American sports fans was something that transcended swimming.

It wasn't just a relay; it was one of the great comebacks in Olympic history. It was a swimmer virtually unknown outside his sport running down a World Record holder to give the USA the gold in absolutely stunning fashion. It was one of the rawest human displays of pure jubilation as an exultant Phelps so memorably unleashed his bare-torso scream of victory behind the blocks. And most importantly perhaps, it was an American team taking on a powerhouse foreign competitor, who had thrown down the gauntlet by declaring their intention to "smash" the Americans.

The American team answered, in a thrilling race that nearly defies words. In doing so, they added a layer of acute emotion to Phelps's historic quest - we Americans intrinsically love the scrappy comeback on behalf of the Red, White, & Blue.

That's much of why America responded the way it did. Phelps's "just one of the guys" persona and demeanor - complete with tear-jerking twist - only adds to the aura of his appeal in the wake of his shattering of Olympic medal records.

As Phelps now enters the pantheon of athletic greats in our history, we can say we saw it. From the dominant victories to the narrowest of wins to the magnificence of team competition at its finest. We watched it.

And. It. Was. A-w-e-s-o-m-e.

UPDATE: formatting adjusted.