Phelps Article

Possible, but not probable. I don't know about that, that's a lot of events he has to win, and the US is not as dominant in relays as it was in Spitz' day. As good as Phelps is, I think the odds are against him even matching Spitz' seven golds. Comparisons between the two are inevitable, but it really is an apples and oranges thing. The swimming world is just so much different now than in the 70s.

swimmer vs swimmer spitz vs phelps spitz swam 100 & 200 fly & fr phelps swims 100 & 200 fly, bk & fr, 200 & 400 IM and is no slouch in the 400 fr & the 200 *** Mark was great in his day Michael is amazing today the olympics has also brought in semi finals so there's one extra swim for each 100 & 200 event which makes it even more grueling

Is there any rational reason to have semi-finals,except to make money.Throw out the semi-finals and there is a chance every WR could be broken at this Olympics.With the semi-finals it decreases the chances.

Is it possible some one new will be a spoiler? Possible, but not probable.

I don't know about that, that's a lot of events he has to win, and the US is not as dominant in relays as it was in Spitz' day. As good as Phelps is, I think the odds are against him even matching Spitz' seven golds. Comparisons between the two are inevitable, but it really is an apples and oranges thing. The swimming world is just so much different now than in the 70s. What I meant to say is that the likelihood of another swimmer surpassing Phelps for most golds at this Olympics does not seem probable. If anybody is going to beat the Spitz record this year, my money would be on Phelps.

Michael Phelps is the first male swimmer to be legitimately greater than Mark Spitz.

Is it possible some one new will be a spoiler? Ryan Lochte is a possibility in stealing his thunder in the 100 and 200 backs...maybe even the IM"s.

Those 5 events and the 3 relays make 8 medals. The 100 back always follows the 200 free (just 1 women's event in between). The 200 back is similarly paired with the 200 IM, and also would create a session where Phelps would have to swim the 200 back final, 200 IM final, and then the 100 fly semi. The men's 400 free is amazingly still attached at the hip to the 400 IM so I don't think you'll see any men do both of those. And I'm not sure if Phelps is among our top 2 in those events (same problem with the 100 free). So I think the same program as 2007 Worlds is what we'll see.

Next up and possibly more fun: what will KATIE HOFF swim? My guess: 400 IM, 4x100 free relay; 400 free; 200 free, 200 IM; 4x200 free relay; 800 free. That's seven, so the big question is, will Katie finish in our top 2 in the 100 free at Trials? If she does, she would then be on the 4x100 medley, for a total of NINE events... with no serious schedule crunches!

Ryan Lochte is a possibility in stealing his thunder in the 100 and 200 backs...maybe even the IM"s. I don't think Phelps will swim the 100 back and maybe not the 200 back. They are not divulging what he is swimming. Besides the obvious: 100 Fly 200 Fly 200 Free 200 IM 400 IM What else do y'all think he will swim. I haven't looked at the order of events, so I don't know. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he swims the 100 Free, just to avoid the controversy from 2004 of being on the relay without swimming it at trials. He recovers so quickly from races, I think he could easily (relatively speaking) add it to his list. He is lifting so much more in 2008 vs. 2004, I think we will see him with some incredible sprint speed that we haven't ever seen. P.S. The semi finals are a joke, but it definitely adds a spice to strategy. Look what happend to Lezak in 2004. I think he somewhat "cruised" the prelims since he "only" had to make top 16 and blew it because of that mentality.