Seven for seven, and every single one in world-record time. Say that slowly with me: he swam seven finals in Munich in 1972 and left seven world records behind him. On this day, 4 September, the last one came in the 4x100 metres medley relay — a race you cannot win by yourself, no matter how good your morning has been.

So let's get the whole box score in here, because relays have four names and history has a habit of remembering one. Mike Stamm took the backstroke leg, Tom Bruce the breaststroke, Mark Spitz the butterfly, and Jerry Heidenreich brought it home on the freestyle. Four men, one clock. Spitz's seventh gold has three other pairs of shoulders under it, and I love that about relay swimming — you're only ever as fast as the fella who hands you the water.

That record of seven stood for thirty-six years, until Michael Phelps went and won eight in Beijing in 2008 — and Phelps, in a lovely bit of symmetry, set seven world records doing it. In the photograph below, three swimmers wave beside the pool with their medals on, one of them holding a shoe up in the air like a trophy. Medals get all the polish, but that shoe is my favourite detail of the whole week!