michael phelps--how many thing he will do it?

Originally posted by Sam Perry So who here thinks Natalie could have had a very legitimate shot at the 7 golds? I for one think she would have had a better shot than Michael had she decided to swim these events: 100 Fly 200 Back 100 Free 200 Free All three relays Not me, and more to the point she would have been less likely than Phelps for the following reasons: 1) The key to winning multiple medals at the Olympics is to train and race at big time international meets with a program that emulates the Olympic program. That was the lesson that Spitz took from 1968 and Bowman/Phelps used 2003 Worlds as their Olympic laboratory. Coughlin did not have a similar opportunity at Worlds so she did have the confidence/experience to try it in Athens. Also her performance at Trials suggests she does not have the physical/mental make-up for multiple INDIVIDUAL medal attempts. NB: NCAA does not count since it is short course a very different sport than long course. 2) The supposed "relay" advantage of the US women is not real. Both US men/women medley relays are odds on favorite. However, this year's US women's team is relatively weak (compared to 2000) on paper and the US women cannot be considered odds-on favorites in the 400/800 free relay.

Originally posted by Sam Perry So who here thinks Natalie could have had a very legitimate shot at the 7 golds? I for one think she would have had a better shot than Michael had she decided to swim these events: 100 Fly 200 Back 100 Free 200 Free All three relays Not me, and more to the point she would have been less likely than Phelps for the following reasons: 1) The key to winning multiple medals at the Olympics is to train and race at big time international meets with a program that emulates the Olympic program. That was the lesson that Spitz took from 1968 and Bowman/Phelps used 2003 Worlds as their Olympic laboratory. Coughlin did not have a similar opportunity at Worlds so she did have the confidence/experience to try it in Athens. Also her performance at Trials suggests she does not have the physical/mental make-up for multiple INDIVIDUAL medal attempts. NB: NCAA does not count since it is short course a very different sport than long course. 2) The supposed "relay" advantage of the US women is not real. Both US men/women medley relays are odds on favorite. However, this year's US women's team is relatively weak (compared to 2000) on paper and the US women cannot be considered odds-on favorites in the 400/800 free relay.