The next chapter in the phenomenal story of Michael Phelps is unfolding. At the Maryland State Champs at the US Naval Academy, the 14-times Olympic gold medal winner showed how he's not resting on his laurels by breaking his own American record in 1:39.65 over 200-yard butterfly.
That got inside his own textile mark of 1:39.7, from 2006 at Austin, Texas. "I wanted to try and go out and take a shot at it," he said. "Coming off the last turn I wanted to stay under as long as I could. That was clearly the difference."
The 2006 record dates from a time before Phelps stunned the swimming world with a 2007 world title win and world record of 1:52.09, in textile jammers. His swim was terrific, his time and turns sensational, the latter noted here in our third entry in my countdown of top 100 memories of the past decade.
Coach Bob Bowman calls his charge the Motivation Machine, among other things. Phelps feeds on anything that comes his way and channels it into making himself better. Defeat, victory, name calling, praise, all goes in the wash and comes out bright.
Phelps is targetting a fourth Games, at London 2012. "There are a lot of things yet to be done," Phelps said. "This shows that with more time and training I can get faster. I'm not in the best shape athletically right now and not in the best swimming shape, but being able to do what I did shows anything is possible when I'm prepared."
The 200m 'fly was the first event in which Phelps qualified to the Olympic Games (5th in the 2000 final) and the first in which he set a world record, at 15 the youngest male world record breaker in history, in 2001. His sisters were also 200 'fly swimmers and Phelps has often spoken of the special status in which he holds the event.
