Swimmers from France, Australia and Russia are favorites to knock the Americans off the medal podium in the sprint freestyle events in Rio, but U.S. National team captain Anthony Ervin isn't conceding.
After all, the past four years in international competition since London mean little to the United States' top swimmers.
"There are guys that are known to only show up for Olympic years because that’s what it is all about. It’s hard to get that furnace burning for anything less," Ervin, a two-time Olympic medalist, said recently.
Ervin, 35, became the oldest American male swimmer to make the Olympics in an individual event since 1904 after finishing second in the 50-meter freestyle at Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb.