Besides Phelps athletic ability, something really impressive is how he has handled life. We've read in recent articles about how his father left the family when Michael was young and how his dad has not had much communication with him. In many young men, this could seriously result in self-doubt. Isn't it impressive how Michael has maintained a belief in himself yet been so humble?
He also has ADHD, at least he did as a child, so is it not extremely impressive how he has been able to overcome this and keep his focus? I read somewhere that he asked his mom to take him off his medication when he was only 11.
Michael has had to overcome things in life that some people might use as an excuse for their misbehavior or as an explaination for their failure to succeed. In light of all of this, aren't the 8 golds all the more impressive?
Former Member
Here in Montreal, there has been a number of recent articles on bullying that have been generated by write-ups on Phelps. Maybe more than articles generated by his swimming achievements.
Young, bored, restless - must be ADHD! (The garbage diagnosis of the 20th century.)
VB
Don't discount it in everyone. It can be a very, very difficult thing to deal with and is real in some people.
Debbie/Debi Thomas, the figure skater, did go on to become an orthopedic surgeon and is in practice (per Wikipedia). She had some hurdles to get over: prejudiced judges (when she was young), no money for lessons. Many elite sports figures do seem to have difficulty adjusting when their elite days are behind them. They have to be single-minded (usually) to get as far as they do, then next year they are old news.
Yep, she is down here in C-U.
In fairness, I think it was pre-established that Phelps would do no interviews between events that he had a short turnaround for. NBC even would mention that fact after the race was over.
Either way, I don't think the public would even mind a reaction like that to a reporter - they just don't want to hear about Phelps treating fans that way. Ultimately, he is there to win golds and make money - fans usually follow along either way.
I see Phelps as an athletic phenomenon, from a scientific perspective. I agree that he had a lot of advantages to start with, in terms of his genes. Great coaching, early mastering of techinque and some hard work allowed him to come close to his potential, which is very high due to his body. And he seems like a nice, humble guy.
But I'm not sure he should be presented as a role model. Most of the elite swimmers I knew ended up not being as successful at anything else after college. When I arrived at college, the guys on my team were collectively the most immature group of people I met in college. To pursue swimming at the expense of all else seems like a poor decision based on the time and energy it requires and the chances of making it at the professional level. There is more to growing up than learning hard work and discipline for 20 hours a week. I'm more of an "everything in moderation" advocate-- sometimes I actually regret how much time I spent swimming between the ages of 7 and 20.
Phelps is sure fun to watch and he is inspiring, but I think he should be seen for what he is- a guy with a lot of talent at the far end of the bell curve- and not someone to model your life after.
I disagree with your point about elite swimmers not being successful in anything after college. Many of the same qualities needed to be an elite swimmer - commited, hard-working, and goal-oriented are certainly good ingredients for success in the business world. It may depend on the college you are talking about. I can think of several elite swimmers that have been extremely successful in the business world.
And the point about immaturity, who wants to grow up when you have the rest of your life to do that? :D
I don't want to go over the top with Phelps, but he does seem to be a nice guy. But we don't really know. Because NBC couldn't keep a camera off of him, I noticed this incident: He was walking back to the warm down pool after the 200 IM final, preparing for the 100 fly semifinal (I am not 100% sure those were the events, but I know he was between events). Athletes have to walk right by "reporters row," when they traveled to the warm down area. A reporter, I think Australian by the looks of him, stepped up and asked Phelps a question. Phelps turned his head and looked the other way.
There is NOTHING wrong with Phelps doing that. He was between events. If anything the reporter should have known better. However, I thought to myself that if the camera was rolling it would be easy to make Phelps look like a jerk. Save the footage for a year, when nobody will remember the circumstances, and it would look really bad.
I guess what I am getting at is that it is easy to make good people look bad, and bad people look good when a camera is on 24/7.
Most of the elite swimmers I knew ended up not being as successful at anything else after college.
By whose metric: yours or theirs?
It's all too common for Joe to say, "Well, Ralph and I both went to Harvard, but I became a success and he didn't" when in fact Ralph has a happy family and a decent job with a 40-hour work week while Joe is a CEO who works 80 hours per week and whose wife is screwing the gardener. Maybe both of those guys are successful by their own measures, which is really what's important.
My own metric is how happy I am, not how much money I make or how many people I can boss around.
And, really: not successful in anything else? :eek: What did they do, set world records in the pool and then climb out of the pool and go drool in the corner? Again, it sounds like they're being judged by someone else's definition of success.
