Is he the greatest? Phelps
As the 12th FINA World Championships drew closer over the past two years, one of the biggest motivations for Michael Phelps was a shot at superfish Ian Thorpe on his home 'turf' in the 200m freestyle.
Smarting from his third place behind Thorpe and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband at the Athens Olympics, the American sensation wanted one more shot at the Australian and the world record he owned.
The motivation was centred on the notion that if he could beat Thorpe in his pet event, in what was effectively the Australian's backyard, he would have completed one of the greatest achievements of a glittering career.
It was via a text message from a friend in November last year that Phelps learned that he would not get another chance to beat the man considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time. It was a huge let down to know that Thorpe would no longer be there.
"Before Ian retired I definitely wanted to come to his country and race him again. That was definitely something that was in my mind when I got out of bed in the morning," he said.
"Every since we found out that the worlds were gonna be in Melbourne it was something I wanted to do. When I faced Pieter and him and Athens, it was the highest level possible and people were saying it was the 'race of the century'. I was looking for a rematch here," he revealed.
"When he did retire then I guess there was a little bit of a disappointment, but I wasn't gonna totally give up on that race."
Phelps is first and foremost a competitor and with Thorpe out of the picture, still had a great motivation to defeat Van Den Hoogenband. He used that as the carrot in the 200m, and thrived on the 'match-race' build up that preceded Tuesday's race.
Fired up by the challenge, Phelps produced a stunning swim which smashed Thorpe's world mark by 0.20 of a second. Having previously failed to break one minute 45 seconds, the 21-year-old found over a second improvement to clock 1:43.86.
"It was definitely good to have him next to me," he said of the Dutchman. "I was excited to swim next to him and in the same heat as him. I knew he was going to get out there fast, that's how he swims his races."
For a man who has a swag of world records to his name, Phelps is surprisingly unconcerned with times. While happy enough to have set a personal best, that is also a world best, his major goal is continued success.
"I've swam the fastest time, but it's only a time, anyone can swim faster at any given point. I don't know how many times Ian swam in the 1:44s, and I've had one swim under 1:45 in my life and that was tonight," he said.
Perhaps this is the point of his career where Phelps moves beyond comparisons with Thorpe. As athletes, they are very different. Phelps is tall and skinny, and has forged his reputation as a master of many crafts. Thorpe was also tall, but muscular, and was the king of freestyle.
Clearly that was a title that Phelps wanted to take away from him while the Australian was still in the pool. Had Phelps had achieved everything else, and beaten Thorpe on his merits in Melbourne, there could be no doubt where the two would sit in relation to each other in the history of the sport.
The scary thing about Phelps in how much of his massive talent is still untapped. He is still quite inexperienced in the 200m freestyle, but given that Van Den Hoogenband is a step closer to retirement, he could, should he choose to, dominate the 200 free for the foreseeable future.
His coach Bob Bowman is still surprised by what Phelps can do.
"Even Bob said (after the 200m world record), 'Where did that come from?' I couldn't tell you. My freestyle training has been thereabouts this year, it hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been spectacular either. I think being able to get a full year of weights in. I guess training has paid off," Phelps said.
He rates his performance on Tuesday among the best three in his career. Rather than diminishing the achievement, it's a sign of everything else that he has achieved so far in his amazing career.
"Tonight is probably up there, it probably ranks in the top three of my world records. I think the biggest thing, is coming to Australia and doing it. To go to a place where Ian swam, and in a country where he swam fast times is pretty special."
He said this record sits among his 400m IM record in Athens and his recent 200m butterfly world record as his big achievements.
But despite having bagged three gold medals already, he still isn't entertaining the prospect of eight gold medals at these championships. If anyone needs to take it 'one race at a time' it's Phelps, who will have completed 17 races in eight days by the time the championships draw to a close on Sunday.
For Phelps, this is a dress rehearsal for an ambitious attack on the Beijing Olympics. He is testing what his body can cope with.
"This is the sort of the time for me to try to put everything into place for next year and to see what my body is able to handle throughout this event programme," he said.
The interesting thing about Phelps is that it is not only the media that makes the comparisons with Thorpe, it is the man himself as well. He wanted so badly for the Ian Thorpe of old to show up in Melbourne, but now has to set about making history on his own terms, something he has already done plenty of.
However history records Phelps and Thorpe, the American possesses two things Thorpe no longer does, the 200m world record, and a passion for following the black line.
"I like to get in the water and race, it's the best part of swimming. It really is," he says with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "I'm a big competitor, no matter what I do. It's great to get into the water and race."
"I had no idea. I saw where I was compared to the rest of the field … I just wanted to finish my final 50 as fast as I could," he said. "I had to take my goggles off to really see what it was."
Smarting from his third place behind Thorpe and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband at the Athens Olympics, the American sensation wanted one more shot at the Australian and the world record he owned.
The motivation was centred on the notion that if he could beat Thorpe in his pet event, in what was effectively the Australian's backyard, he would have completed one of the greatest achievements of a glittering career.
It was via a text message from a friend in November last year that Phelps learned that he would not get another chance to beat the man considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time. It was a huge let down to know that Thorpe would no longer be there.
"Before Ian retired I definitely wanted to come to his country and race him again. That was definitely something that was in my mind when I got out of bed in the morning," he said.
"Every since we found out that the worlds were gonna be in Melbourne it was something I wanted to do. When I faced Pieter and him and Athens, it was the highest level possible and people were saying it was the 'race of the century'. I was looking for a rematch here," he revealed.
"When he did retire then I guess there was a little bit of a disappointment, but I wasn't gonna totally give up on that race."
Phelps is first and foremost a competitor and with Thorpe out of the picture, still had a great motivation to defeat Van Den Hoogenband. He used that as the carrot in the 200m, and thrived on the 'match-race' build up that preceded Tuesday's race.
Fired up by the challenge, Phelps produced a stunning swim which smashed Thorpe's world mark by 0.20 of a second. Having previously failed to break one minute 45 seconds, the 21-year-old found over a second improvement to clock 1:43.86.
"It was definitely good to have him next to me," he said of the Dutchman. "I was excited to swim next to him and in the same heat as him. I knew he was going to get out there fast, that's how he swims his races."
For a man who has a swag of world records to his name, Phelps is surprisingly unconcerned with times. While happy enough to have set a personal best, that is also a world best, his major goal is continued success.
"I've swam the fastest time, but it's only a time, anyone can swim faster at any given point. I don't know how many times Ian swam in the 1:44s, and I've had one swim under 1:45 in my life and that was tonight," he said.
Perhaps this is the point of his career where Phelps moves beyond comparisons with Thorpe. As athletes, they are very different. Phelps is tall and skinny, and has forged his reputation as a master of many crafts. Thorpe was also tall, but muscular, and was the king of freestyle.
Clearly that was a title that Phelps wanted to take away from him while the Australian was still in the pool. Had Phelps had achieved everything else, and beaten Thorpe on his merits in Melbourne, there could be no doubt where the two would sit in relation to each other in the history of the sport.
The scary thing about Phelps in how much of his massive talent is still untapped. He is still quite inexperienced in the 200m freestyle, but given that Van Den Hoogenband is a step closer to retirement, he could, should he choose to, dominate the 200 free for the foreseeable future.
His coach Bob Bowman is still surprised by what Phelps can do.
"Even Bob said (after the 200m world record), 'Where did that come from?' I couldn't tell you. My freestyle training has been thereabouts this year, it hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been spectacular either. I think being able to get a full year of weights in. I guess training has paid off," Phelps said.
He rates his performance on Tuesday among the best three in his career. Rather than diminishing the achievement, it's a sign of everything else that he has achieved so far in his amazing career.
"Tonight is probably up there, it probably ranks in the top three of my world records. I think the biggest thing, is coming to Australia and doing it. To go to a place where Ian swam, and in a country where he swam fast times is pretty special."
He said this record sits among his 400m IM record in Athens and his recent 200m butterfly world record as his big achievements.
But despite having bagged three gold medals already, he still isn't entertaining the prospect of eight gold medals at these championships. If anyone needs to take it 'one race at a time' it's Phelps, who will have completed 17 races in eight days by the time the championships draw to a close on Sunday.
For Phelps, this is a dress rehearsal for an ambitious attack on the Beijing Olympics. He is testing what his body can cope with.
"This is the sort of the time for me to try to put everything into place for next year and to see what my body is able to handle throughout this event programme," he said.
The interesting thing about Phelps is that it is not only the media that makes the comparisons with Thorpe, it is the man himself as well. He wanted so badly for the Ian Thorpe of old to show up in Melbourne, but now has to set about making history on his own terms, something he has already done plenty of.
However history records Phelps and Thorpe, the American possesses two things Thorpe no longer does, the 200m world record, and a passion for following the black line.
"I like to get in the water and race, it's the best part of swimming. It really is," he says with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "I'm a big competitor, no matter what I do. It's great to get into the water and race."
"I had no idea. I saw where I was compared to the rest of the field … I just wanted to finish my final 50 as fast as I could," he said. "I had to take my goggles off to really see what it was."