The greatest swimmer in the world had just blown away the field and set yet another world record at a time most athletes are reaching for their first can of Red Bull. Now, Michael Phelps stood in the water, pumped his fist in the air and exhaled deeply.
Halfway around the world, NBC executives were undoubtedly doing the same.
They juggled the schedule to make sure Phelps won his first gold medal in prime time and he responded on a rainy morning in Beijing with a performance for the ages in the one event where he might be most vulnerable.
Seven more remain before he’s officially crowned the greatest swimmer ever, but that seems a mere formality now, much to the relief of NBC officials who built the first week of the Olympics around his quest for a record eight gold medals.
In front of a bleary-eyed crowd that included President Bush, Phelps did what great athletes do in their biggest moments on stage and he did it with a flourish, sprinting toward the finish to obliterate his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley and win the first gold for the U.S. swimming team.
Four minutes and 3.84 seconds after it began, it was over. The first gold medal was his, and the message to his fellow swimmers was clear.
Swim for the silvers and bronze if you wish. Just don’t think about winning the gold.
Those belong to Phelps.
“I’m pretty happy,†he said. “That was a pretty emotional race, I think.â€
Emotional afterward, too. The normally stoic Phelps is used to being on medal stands, but this time he choked up as they played the national anthem.
“I wanted to sing on the medal podium but I couldn’t stop crying,†he said. “I was just happy to get the first one under my belt.â€
Phelps wasn’t the only happy one. NBC took an $894 million gamble that American television viewers would put up with taped coverage and odd hours if they could also get some live drama during prime time.
The Chinese agreed to flip-flop the usual times to do just that, despite objections from other countries. About all that remained to be seen was how Phelps would respond to the early wakeup call, and Phelps answered with his best race ever.
The only thing missing was the drama in this race, which began shortly after 10 a.m. and ended much too quickly for Ryan Lochte, Phelps’ teammate who was supposed to give him the toughest challenge in any of his eight events.
Lochte did his best, staying even with Phelps halfway through the race, but it was all he could do to hang on to the bronze as he and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh chugged to the wall about the same time Phelps was studying the board to see just how fast he had gone.
“It’s amazing,†Lochte said. “Setting a world record, you can’t ask for anything else.â€
What was amazing was that anyone thought Phelps might be vulnerable in any race, much less his first race. The 23-year-old who won six gold medals in Athens and will have more Olympic golds than any other athlete after these games seems impervious to pressure and thrives on a competitive challenge.
Not only that, Phelps has held the world record in the 400 IM for the last six years, breaking it six times himself while lowering it by an average of one second a year before smashing it yet again on Sunday.
“I would never bet against him,†U.S. coach Eddie Reese said before the games.
Phelps stands to receive a $1 million bonus from Speedo if he wins all eight races and breaks the record of seven golds set by Mark Spitz 36 years ago in Munich. But there’s more at stake for him in Beijing, including cementing a legacy that began in Athens and will likely not end at least until the London games four years from now.
If he wins all eight races, he’ll own 14 gold medals, five more than the record haul currently held by Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others. Since he only seems to get better with age, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Phelps could end his career with 20 Olympic gold medals or even more.
That kind of greatness lured President Bush and his wife to the Water Cube, and Phelps gave them something to cheer about. The success of American swimmers is crucial to attempts by the United States to beat host China in the medal count.
“It’s pretty cool to have the president say congratulations,†Phelps said.
Bush isn’t sticking around long, but the congratulations are far from over. By the time Phelps gets out of the pool for the 17th time next weekend, his legend will be assured.
Morning or night, he’s the greatest swimmer we’ve ever seen.
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Re:Relief in the pool for Phelps
Date: 2008/08/12 15:16
By: KatiePery
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Michael Phelps climbed out of the pool, unzipped his skin-tight suit and ambled over to chat with his coach.
"Well, you're tied," Bob Bowman reminded him.
"That's pretty cool," Phelps replied.
Yawn. This guy is making monumental feats look ridiculously easy.
Phelps etched his name with Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis among the winningest Olympians ever with his third gold medal and third world record in as many days.
In winning the 200-meter freestyle Tuesday, Phelps ran his career Olympic total to nine golds and avenged his only individual loss in Athens four years ago, when a 19-year-old Phelps took on the 200 free just so he could compete with Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband.
He finished third that night in what was called the "Race of the Century." This time, it was hardly a race at all.
March Toward History
Michael Phelps continued his march through the history books, winning the men's 200 freestyle for his ninth career gold medal and tying for the most career Olympic gold medals.
Phelps all the way.
"I hate to lose," he said. "When you lose a race like that, it motivates me even more to try to swim faster."
Competing out in lane six, Phelps quickly surged to the lead and led by a full body length halfway through the second of four laps. He was nearly two seconds ahead of the field when he touched in 1 minute, 42.96 seconds, breaking the mark of 1:43.86 he set at last year's world championships.
"I just wanted to be out at the 50-meter point, and that's where I was," said Phelps, much more reserved in his reaction after a wild performance on deck the previous day. "I was in open water, and it was difficult for the other guys to see me."
South Korea's Park Tae-hwan took the silver in 1:44.85, touching while Phelps was already looking at the scoreboard. Peter Vanderkaay, one of Phelps' training partners, gave the U.S. another medal by claiming the bronze in 1:45.14.
"I knew Park is strong in the last 50 meters," Phelps said of the 400 free gold medalist, "so I knew I had to be fast and concentrated."
Everyone else figured they were racing for second.
"Phelps swam so fast," Park said. "It is my honor to compete with him."
Added Vanderkaay, "I just tried to swim my own race. He's going to go out, but I can't let that affect my race strategy."
Phelps is now 3-for-3 in Beijing, on course to beat Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single Olympics. He opened with a world record in the 400 individual medley, then led off an epic victory in the 400 free relay.
While chasing Spitz, he'll take care of another historical landmark, one he wasn't even aware of until earlier this year.
Phelps's ninth career gold tied him with Spitz, Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the most in Olympic history.
"To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time, with those names, in Olympic history ...," Phelps said, before pausing and letting out a slight chuckle.
"The Olympics have been around for so many years, that's a pretty amazing accomplishment."
Michael Phelps' ninth career gold tied him for the most wins in Olympic history.
The mark isn't likely to be shared for long. Phelps will go for his fourth and fifth golds of these games, which would push him to 11 overall, when he competes Wednesday in the finals of the 200 butterfly and 800 free relay, two more events in which he already holds world records.
Just for kicks, Phelps set an Olympic record during Tuesday's 200 fly semifinals, competing less than an hour after winning the 200 free.
"I set up an opportunity to have a perfect swim tomorrow," Phelps said.
Perfection. That sums up the gangly 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves rap music, pimped-out cars and doing things in the pool that no one else even dared to think of.
"It might be once in a century you see something like this," teammate Aaron Peirsol said. "He's not just winning, he's absolutely destroying everything. It's awesome to watch."
Phelps is a creature of habit. He struggles to wake up in the morning, and loves to take naps in the middle of the afternoon. He gets two massages a day and takes ice baths to help his body recover from the grueling schedule. He whoofs down gargantuan amounts of pasta and pizza between races.
"Lots of carbs," he said.
When it's time to race, there's no one better.
"It's his physical ability, it's his ability to race, it's his ability to keep focused, to get excited when he needs to and to come down when he needs to come down," said Mark Schubert, head coach of the U.S. team.
With Phelps leading the way, it turned out to be a red, white and blue morning for the American swimmers.
Peirsol defended his Olympic title in the 100 backstroke with a world record of 52.54, and teammate Matt Grevers made it a 1-2 U.S. finish.
Natalie Coughlin became the first woman to repeat as champion of the 100 backstroke, winning with an American record of 58.96. She held off Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who set a world record of 58.77 in the semifinals but couldn't repeat that performance.
Another American, Margaret Hoelzer, took bronze in 58.34.
"The ball's starting to roll," Phelps said. "Last year in Melbourne [at the world championships] one swim started it, and then swims just started happening one after another after another. We had a great morning this morning and hopefully we can set up some more good swims tonight and keep the ball rolling."
The U.S. dominance was broken only by Australia's Leisel Jones, who made up for a disappointing bronze four years ago by winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.17, just eight-hundredths off her own world record. Rebecca Soni, who got in the event after fellow American Jessica Hardy tested positive for drugs last month, took advantage of her opportunity by winning the silver in 1:06.73.
The day before, Phelps led a raucous celebration on deck after Jason Lezak improbably caught France's Alain Bernard on the final stroke to give the Americans a thrilling relay win. He thrust both fists in the air and let out a long scream before burying himself with Lezak, Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale in a group hug.
There was no such drama this time. He has no equal in China.
Phelps touched the wall two full body lengths ahead of everyone else, put his right index finger in the air and matter-of-factly climbed from the pool.
After the medal ceremony, Phelps changed into a different suit -- ditching the one that covers his stomach and chest for one that merely goes from waist to ankles -- to swim in the semifinals of the 200 fly. He won the heat and tied his own Olympic record from the win at Athens four years ago, 1:53.70.
"I just wanted to win my heat and set everything up for tomorrow," Phelps said. "Just get through that and prepare myself for tomorrow, that's the most important thing. An afternoon off and it's time to just sort of get as rested as I can, recover, and I probably have to re-shave. Get all of that stuff down."
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