Phelps is going down ....

Yep, getting 2nd and being pissed off can be quite a motivator.:applaud: Not to mention the Beijing goggle malfunction. He was visibly disappointed last summer despite the record. Guess his freestyle mojo must have been a bit off the other day, if he can still drop time wearing a stinky old pair of legskins.

It's my understanding that some swimsuit manufacturers allow their contracted swimmers to wear whatever suit they feel they will do best in at significant meets. Until the contract is open for public reading, no one can say that "Speedo would sue" if a contendor under Speedo contract tried another suit. I look forward to all being revealed when M. Phelps gets around to writing his third autobiography, perhaps at age 27 (or in 2012).

My admiration for the great Michael Phelps has gone down. Last year he was happy to wear a LZR Speedo suit, which was the best suit on the market. He didn't complain that he had an advantage over swimmers who couldn't get their hands on the LZR. Today he can see that the Jaked suit is far superior to the LZR. Of course, he can't wear one because he's sponsored by Speedo. He's tied to them. So what does he do? Whine about those who do wear the Jaked , and say he won't compete until they are banned. If he walked away from his Speedo contract he would be sued, and he knows it. Michael, you went for the big dollar and now you can see it was a mistake. Stop whining, and get on with life.

This is a load of crap! Tell me one (ONE) quote of him "whining" about the suit? Please show me. When you make blanket statements like this please back it up. Give me a break. That's it - I don't see where he is whining about the suit. A lot of whining has been attributed to Phelps but from the video and news reports he's a guy who lost in a race he's owned for sometime and was not happy to be 2nd. He reacted like Roddick did at Wimbledon (though Andy wasn't the favorite there) - he really didn't want to be there. Phelps congratulated Biederman, said he swam the better race and that the swimmer beat him not the suit. I know a lot of people will call bs - that Phelps and Bowman are just playing the game, but no one really knows because they were not and are not in Rome. Speedo paid Phelps a lot of money and he performed - if he had jumped ship, wouldn't that have been a more egregious and cynical move. He stayed with the suit he had, and tried to prove the swimmer was more important than the suit. I'm still not convinced that he wasn't angry that he lost because he wasn't fully prepared for that race.

we would probably all be saying how Phelps must have taken a bong hit just before his race or something. Funny, but so true. The non-swimming sports journalist seems to generate these type of stories far too often. Now it's all about the suits. www.nytimes.com/.../30swim.html Phelps Rebounds Amid Swimsuit Controversy Phelps’s loyalty to a swimsuit that many people now consider inferior should not be too surprising. He has had the same coach, Bowman, since he was 12, the same prerace routine since he was 13, and has stuck with the 200 fly, a backbreaking event, since making his first Olympic team in the event in 2000, at age 15. Earlier this summer, after it became apparent that the new wave of swimsuits was building to a tsunami that would wipe out the record books, Bowman considered asking Phelps, 24, to try out one of the new suits. “Honestly, I had a temptation to put it on him in practice,” Bowman said, “just so I would know for sure in my mind what the difference was. But then I thought no, because once he finds out it might just create a conflict.”

No matter how un-Phelps-like shape he was in for the 200 free, He still can break a world record in the 200 fly. He doesn't need the endurance training that is usually needed for the 200 fly to break a world record. Simply amazing. Of course, part of that swim was out of anger for his 200 free loss. His swimming is pretty amazing after 6 months of training and a crappy suit.

No matter how un-Phelps-like shape he was in for the 200 free, He still can break a world record in the 200 fly. He doesn't need the endurance training that is usually needed for the 200 fly to break a world record. Simply amazing. Of course, part of that swim was out of anger for his 200 free loss. His swimming is pretty amazing after 6 months of training and a crappy suit. I can't imagine how angry I'd have to get to swim a 200m fly. Serenity now…serenity now… :D On another note, I think it'll be interesting to see what sort of psychological effect loosing the tech suits will have on some of the swimmers. Based on some of the cursory comments from swimmers and coaches, it sounds like some are already talking themselves out of equivalent or faster times?

If i was going to race phelps, i would study the tapes and his strategy. he is predictable - like Peirsol- last 50 push it (ok, everybody does this but...). work walls like a beast. and again i wonder what Alain Bernard has to say about all of this? remember his swim was unallowed earlier this year. I do not believe Biedermann is jacked up. i lived in Germany and I saw lots of big men.:) maybe he is a musli fresser like me.

Back on topic. Is Phelps going to go down today? The most likly candidates to do this would be Matsuda of Japan, who qualified first today and was the bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics with a 1:52.97 and he looked good in the SF yesterday. The polish swimmer, Pawel Korzeniowski was the world's fastest in 2005, when Phelps didn't swim the event at the 2005 World Championships. Does anybody give these guys a chance after what happened yesterday? I think chances of an upset when up considerably since yesterday.

After watching this clip, The Phelps I saw today looked nothing like he did in this clip. His final SDK was strong and amazing. Today, he seemed alot weaker and was struggling a bit. I'm not sure if it's Phelps looking worse or his competition looking a lot better. You always look great when you win.