I just saw this article "Swimmer’s death leaves open questions":
"Asked if he’d ever try the event, US swimmer Michael Phelps said, “Not a chance, no way. I won’t do open water.’’
I'm a bit surprised. Is he scared of the dangers of open water? Or is he technically competitive in open water? :rolleyes: Have there been any swimmers who won both pool medal and open-water medal in world events?
To the original post... shorter pool races are often won on the dive, turns and breakouts. None of these skills have any value in open water racing. In Beijing Phelps completely dominated the 200 free to win the Gold www.olympic.org/swimming but take a look at how much he gained on his dive, breakout, and spectacular turns.
There are no caveats or "buts" to Phelps' swimming, or any Olympic swimmer. They are great swimmers. Just because Phelps doesn't want to do OW doesn't mean if he did he would suck. He'd still be one to beat.
To the original post... shorter pool races are often won on the dive, turns and breakouts. None of these skills have any value in open water racing. In Beijing Phelps completely dominated the 200 free to win the Gold www.olympic.org/swimming but take a look at how much he gained on his dive, breakout, and spectacular turns.
There are no caveats or "buts" to Phelps' swimming, or any Olympic swimmer. They are great swimmers. Just because Phelps doesn't want to do OW doesn't mean if he did he would suck. He'd still be one to beat.
