Swimming looks the most beguilingly simple of sports — get in, swim, get out — but, as Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe and many others have discovered, there are demons and temptations in those quiet, laned waters. Thorpe, for instance, could not stay away from the pool after retiring in 2006 with five gold medals and 11 world titles. A major celebrity in Australia, he gave in to what he probably suspected all along were the unrealistic hopes of making a comeback in London. Thorpe struggled with the reality of his dilemma, so much so that, at 29, he has committed himself to trying again in 2016.Swimming has been Phelps’s life as well but, at 27, he is getting ready to walk away and is determined not to let anxiety, or the expectation of others, spoil the farewell party. The American reckons it would be "kinda cool to rewrite history", as he has done, one way or another, at every Olympics he has attended since Sydney 2000. If he were any more laid-back, however, as he attempts to become the most decorated Olympian of all time, he might fall asleep while making the last-lap flip in the final of his pet event, the 200m butterfly.
He has given the impression lately that he is less worried than everyone else about winning the three medals of any colour he needs to surpass the tally of the Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina — who won 18 (nine gold, five silver and four bronze medals) in consecutive Games between the 1956 Melbourne and 1964 Tokyo Games.
Greatest swimmer
He is, after all, already the greatest swimmer in history. Eight of his 16 Olympic medals came in Beijing four years ago, although life has been much tougher since. Preparations for his farewell Olympics have hardly been smooth.
Greatest swimmer
He is, after all, already the greatest swimmer in history. Eight of his 16 Olympic medals came in Beijing four years ago, although life has been much tougher since. Preparations for his farewell Olympics have hardly been smooth.
Phelps’s American team-mate and rival Tyler Clary started the most recent ruckus with a remark that Phelps, who trains five hours a day, seven days a week, was, well, lazy. Phelps, typically, is not bothered. “I know it won’t be eight medals again,” he says, confirming the obvious, as he has been entered in only four events — the 200m and 400m individual medley, as well as the 100m and 200m fly — and can feature in a maximum of three relays. “If you guys want to compare me to Beijing, it’s your decision.” He adds: “I’m way out there to try to accomplish the things I have in my mind and heart and, if I can do that and have fun, that’s all that matters to me.”
The concept of swimming-as-fun is alien to anyone who has subjected themselves to the torture of getting ready for serious competition, but Phelps, clearly, is trying to calm the hype building around him. “Once I hang my suit up, I want to be able to look back and say I’ve done everything I could in my career and, whether that’s having 50 gold or having 16 total medals, if I can say I did all I wanted, I think that’s all that matters.”
Meeting a legend
Phelps is probably feeling the weight of history. He met Latynina a little while ago and, naturally, it was “definitely pretty cool”, although he admits: “I honestly didn’t know what the record was until I was told this year. I was in New York, doing a photo shoot. The language was variable. She had a translator. She was very excited. “It was exciting to meet such a legend. We spent a couple of hours together, joking around. She gave me a medal from the 50s, a USA v Russia (USSR) gymnastic competition. It was probably one of the coolest things that has been given to me.”
Maybe meeting Latynina had a bigger effect on him than he cares to admit. “Sometimes you see records and you can use it as motivation. So, in a way it’s kinda cool to rewrite history, to be up there with some of the greats in Olympic history.”
Thorpe, his only contemporary near rival for greatness, could not drag out the dream. Can Phelps?