“Michael’s vision is to increase swimming in the US"

Nice article about Phelps and increased interest in swimming at timesargus.com/.../article

If Mama Phelps has to see reporters at her job, then Michael has done his job of raising awareness of the sport.

What do we need - grassroot swimcamps ? A Michael Phelps US swimming tour ? Phelps racing various people around the country ? Josh Davis did the grassroots camps this year. Phelps, Crocker and Krayzelburg did the swimming tour in 2004. And I think he considered a month of racing across the country then. The tour only got a few paragraphs in each city it visited. The concept of making swimming more visible will take more than eight gold medals and Sports Illustrated cover, unfortunately. I know people who liked watching the 400 free relay but didn't really understand how big it was for Ryan Lochte to win the 200 back. And these guys are football freaks. They spent the week wtching PRESEASON FOOTBALL!!!!!! Those are the people he needs to reach. If they don't care about swimming, nationals and worlds and other big meets like NCAAs will never trump college basketball, NFL and baseball on TV and will always be relegated to bad tme spots. Michael's got an uphill battle. But he's taking six months off. Plenty of time to think of ideas.

A few individuals have brought something back from the dead, or created a new life form, as it were. Bat Conservation International basically grew out of one man's getting fed up with the bad rep bats got. Citizen scientists have helped many marginal areas stay afloat and become popular. Music camps gave an extended life to bluegrass in its second coming. So I think participatory engagement might be key. I think M. Phelps might benefit from huddling with Paul Newman (Hole in the Wall Gang camps) and also the retired tennis player (name escapes me). That would be a terrific legacy: a swim camp network for orthopedically challenged kids. In addition to everything else, such as DVDs, swim camps, master classes, ribbon cutting.... The SI cover is very nice and might pull more sustained interest than otherwise; depends on whether the notion of swimming gets fixed in the popular imagination. The TV coverage of M. Phelps should certainly help whatever he does. Although Phelps is still on the young side to think about such things, I hope he starts a foundation and uses part of the oomph to keep college swimming programs going, as well as the city pools that are being shut down right and left.

I was in Best Buy last night. I had on a swimming shirt and a worker was talking to me about the Olympics. He said that Dara, Michael and the come from behind swim of Lezak has inspired him to start swimming.... They have reached at least one person and I am sure there are many more that will give it a try also. I picked my car up from the shop today. The mechanic, motioning toward my personalized license plate (LV2SWIM) said, "So, you must be a Michael Phelps fan." I would bet money that two weeks ago this guy had never heard of Michael Phelps.

I was in Best Buy last night. I had on a swimming shirt and a worker was talking to me about the Olympics. He said that Dara, Michael and the come from behind swim of Lezak has inspired him to start swimming. I talked to him about joining a masters team because it would help and he said stuctured workouts would help him alot. They have reached at least one person and I am sure there are many more that will give it a try also.

In my opinion, Phelps can (and has) put down a lot of groundwork for increased youth participation, but the real work to sustain interest and keep kids going in the sport has to come at the individual club (and perhaps LSC) level. They must find a way to make practices and competitions more fun and exciting for kids (and tolerable for parents). My 9 yo son really likes swimming, but his first experience with age group USA swimming (at 8) was not great. He didn't really like going to practice and what enthusiasm he had for meets was fairly quickly dashed when he realized that the competitions pretty much take up an entire weekend and then it's back to school on Monday. Compared to that, he has loved summer league, where the meets are quick and fun, and the practices are low key. He also loves soccer and basketball, where they play games regularly and even practices largely consist of games and scrimmages. You might say, hey, swimming is a tough sport and kids these days just need to be more disciplined. But, we need to get them "hooked" somewhere between 7 and 11 by making it fun, then get more serious if they continue. I think Phelps' main role is to peak the interest and get the kids to try swimming. Beyond that, it's up to coaches and parents.

I picked my car up from the shop today. The mechanic, motioning toward my personalized license plate (LV2SWIM) said, "So, you must be a Michael Phelps fan." I would bet money that two weeks ago this guy had never heard of Michael Phelps. I think that's fantastic! No one else in my life swims (save for my old swimming buddies), yet all of them were glued to the Olympic events every night. MP has given them a name and face to go with the sport, even though it took 8 golds to get them to actually watch and pay attention. They now realize what a fun, exciting sport it is and ask me about my workouts, goals, and past accomplishments. I never knew what a decathlon was all about before Bruce Jenner won, so it's similar. These Olympians introduce their sport to the world on our TV screens in spectacular style.

I don't think you have to be a jerk to be popular, Usain Bolt is getting a great reaction by being light and relaxed and fun. Phelps on the other hand doesn't even raise an arm when his name is announced. Obviously it works for him but it doesn't endear him to fans.

I was in Best Buy last night. I had on a swimming shirt and a worker was talking to me about the Olympics. He said that Dara, Michael and the come from behind swim of Lezak has inspired him to start swimming. I talked to him about joining a masters team because it would help and he said stuctured workouts would help him alot. They have reached at least one person and I am sure there are many more that will give it a try also. That is an awesome story! Glad to hear that team USA has motivated non-swimmers to get in the water! Thanks for sharing!