Goshen native captures Phelps, US Olympic swim history
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - As an historic sports moment played out within his reach, Shawn Dechant thought to himself, "Don't screw it up."
Michael Phelps had just won his fifth gold medal of the 2016 Rio Olympic Summer Games, a 400-meter medley relay with Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller and Nathan Adrian. The Team USA swimmers gathered moments after the race on Aug. 14 for an impromptu group hug.
Dechant, a Goshen native, was right there, camera in hand.
Right place, right time.
"All I'm thinking is this is golden ... what a perfect way for (Phelps) to go out," said Dechant, a top level freelance television cameraman who was working the pool deck for NBC Sports during the games. "People always ask me about special moments in my career, and there have been so many. But being in there, to showcase that huddle ... the guy's last race ever ... it's one of my top five moments."
Dechant, shooting within a foot of the swimmers, leaned in low and aimed up into the huddle. Through his microphone, he was able to hear Phelps tell his teammates, "I love you guys. I love it because this was my last race ever."
History, the 23rd gold medal of Phelps' remarkable Olympic swim career.
"It's so hard to explain what it's like. It was surreal, a unique thing," said Dechant, who worked his fifth Olympic Games for NBC. "But not only was it Michael, it was Katie Ledecky and others."
Primarily a cameraman for college football and the NBA who does a bulk of his work for ABC/ESPN, Dechant has worked some of sports' top moments in the last 10 years, including national championship football games and the NBA playoffs and finals.
While covering the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, as well as the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi, Russia, in 2014, Dechant discovered a different workflow and set of eyes.
"As a hand-held guy on an Olympic pool deck, during the race I don't do a lot. I'm helping with the start and finish," Dechant said. "With the NBA, you're covering coaches on sidelines, in the huddle, you've got guys covering play-by-play ... you have a specific assignment.
"In football, as a hand-held guy on the sidelines, you're one of 30 cameras. My job is being creative with a fan shot, or shots with teammates, maybe having the right angle to cover a touchdown," he added. "I've gotta be there for that football that's out of bounds or if the ball crossed into the end zone."
Those assignments, according to Dechant, offer a wider variety of time and space for creativity. Swimming required some learning along the way when he was asked to shoot in 2008.
"Swimming is one of those unique events you don't see on a weekly basis, so I didn't know what to expect," Dechant said. "But when Phelps took off doing what he was doing, it was more than pretty cool. I thought this is unbelievable. I mean, I'm standing on a pool deck right next to him.
"Two of my favorite Olympics were Beijing, then London," said Dechant, "then this one because of Michael Phelps."
Keep in mind, Dechant has rubbed elbows with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and NBA superstars on a routine basis and has been front-and-center for college football's top teams and games, including bowls and national championship events.
After years of traveling across the nation on Saturdays with college football, Dechant will shift his focus this fall. He's cut way back on college, though he will work the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game on Sept. 10 at NASCAR's famed Bristol Motor Speedway.
"I'm excited about that one," Dechant said. "The first game at a raceway and they're saying 160,000 fans."
The following weekend, he's taking on the opening game at the Minnesota Vikings' brand new stadium on NBC's Sunday Night Football. The rest of the year, though, he'll work the NFL's Thursday night contests.
"That will let me be home more with my family," said Dechant, who resides in Chandler, Ariz., with his wife, Jess, and his children, Tyce, 4, and Quinn, 20 months.
Dechant returned home after the week of swimming, though he could have easily stayed for the duration of the Olympic Games. He arrived in Rio de Janiero on July 31 and left on Aug. 16.
Each day, he said, was "not really hectic, but busy the whole time.
"Once the swimming started, it was 'Groundhog Day' every day. We'd start at 9:30 or 10 a.m. and finish around 1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. It was 15- to 16-hour days," said Dechant, who had limited chances to tour Rio before the opening ceremonies.
Rolled into that long day was a more than two-hour round trip to and from the media apartment complex.
Afternoon swim sessions, mostly preliminary heats, lasted from 1 to 3 p.m. and the live finals telecast on NBC ran from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Between sessions, Dechant often enjoyed competition in other sports.
"We'd have a five- or six-hour break, so I would wander around different venues," Dechant said. "I saw cycling, table tennis, judo, fencing - the sports you never really see on TV and people never get to watch. I was there at gymnastics when the the U.S. girls won the all-around, and I actually fell in love with cycling and fencing."
While thrilled to be part of such historic moments, Dechant, who got his start in the business locally at FOX28 and LeSea Broadcasting, is humbled by his experiences.
"I've been blessed ... very blessed, indeed," Dechant said. "I'm very lucky. "You work hard to get where you're at, so when you get in those moments, you cherish them for a lifetime."
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Source: The Elkhart Truth, http://bit.ly/2bCsI9d
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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com