But it gets more intense. By virtue of his Herculean individual effort, Phelps has also positioned himself to compete in the Olympic program’s three relays–and according to his coach, Bob Bowman, the young swimmer intends to compete in Athens in nearly every event for which he’s qualified. (On Wednesday afternoon, Phelps decided to drop the 200-meter backstroke, in which he finished second at the trials.)In other words, while the swimming world chews over his chances to match Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympic games, Phelps himself is aiming even higher. Seven? Seven is for wimps. Phelps is gunning for eight.
If there’s one thing the trials made abundantly clear, however, it won’t be easy. In Long Beach, Phelps won a handful of his events in a walk: the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medleys and the 200-meter butterfly–all distances in which he holds the world record. But in his three remaining individual events, Phelps is bracing for a dogfight in Athens. He was the top American qualifier at the trials in the 200-meter freestyle, but his winning time was a full second off the pace of Australia’s Ian Thorpe, one of the stars of the 2000 Sydney Games and the event’s world-record holder. In his remaining two events, Phelps will have to beat a pair of top-ranked American teammates–both of whom defeated him at the trials. In Monday night’s 200m backstroke final, he finished second to University of Texas star Aaron Piersol, who broke his own world record in the process and so soundly defeated Phelps that he chased the 19-year-old from the event entirely. The next night, in the 100m butterfly, Phelps fell to Piersol’s college roommate, Ian Crocker, who also lowered his own world-record time. Then there’s the three relays. The U.S. will bring a star-studded team to Athens, but it’s still unlikely to beat the powerful Aussies in the 4 x 200m. Come August, if Phelps meets expectations–in other words, if he wins all of the events in which he’s the favorite and loses all of the events in which he is not–he’ll leave Athens with only five gold medals.
Yeah, “only” five. It is, of course, a measure of Phelps’s unprecedented ability and the goosebump-inducing excitement around him that it isn’t ridiculous to use the word “only” in connection with a gold-medal count of five. Hardly anyone thinks Phelps will come home with any fewer than four gold medals–which would still rate as one of the greatest individual performances in Olympic history. Just not the greatest.
Even if Phelps fails to match Spitz’s mark, the trials made it clear that there’ll be plenty of other American success stories coming from the pool in Athens. Five world records fell in Long Beach–and Phelps was only responsible for one of them. Now that the Olympic squad is set, here are a few more swimmers who might return from Athens with multiple gold medals hanging around their necks:
Natalie Coughlin, 21. If there’s a Phelps equivalent on the female side, it’s this University of California star. Though the two couldn’t be more different outside of the pool, inside it they are a rare breed in modern-day swimming: multidisciplinary gold-medal threats. In the months leading up to the trials, there was speculation that Coughlin, like Phelps, would also be gunning for Spitz’s seven-gold-medal mark. Then the swimming schedule for Athens came out and the timing of events made such an attempt impossible for Coughlin. Still, she qualified for two individual events in Athens–the 100m backstroke, in which she holds the world record, and the 100m freestyle–as well as three relays. That adds up to five possible golds for Coughlin.
Brendan Hansen, 22. The University of Texas graduate probably had the best trials of anyone not named Michael Phelps. A breaststroke specialist, Hansen electrified the Long Beach crowd, setting world records in both the 100m and 200m distances. Expect a repeat performance in Athens and another multiple gold-medalist for the American team.
Jason Lezak, 28. After eight years of American domination in the sprint events by 2000 gold medalist Gary Hall Jr., his longtime rival Lezak finally broke through in Long Beach, winning the 100m freestyle. (Hall came back a day later to top Lezak in the 50m freestyle; Lezak finished second and will swim the event at the Olympics.) In Athens, the Irvine, Calif., native will face stiff competition from Thorpe in the 100 and from Hall in the 50 but has a strong shot at gold in the 4 x 100m relay.
Amanda Beard, 22. As a 14-year-old at the Atlanta games in 1996, she became the second-youngest female ever to win a gold medal in the medley relay. Now, as an experienced veteran, she’ll attempt to win her first individual gold medal, and she’ll head to Athens as a world-record holder: she smashed the top mark in the 200m breaststroke on Monday night.
Jenny Thompson, 31. She’s the grande dame of the U.S. swimming team and the most-decorated woman in Olympic history, with 10 medals, eight of them gold. But she’s never won an individual gold medal: all of her top prizes have come in relays. Thompson took a break from medical school to give it one more shot, and the 100m butterfly is her best hope. She narrowly qualified at the trials–a sign, perhaps, that an individual gold medal in Athens may be just out of reach. But given her long Olympic history, she’ll be a fan favorite and a terrific story–and she could collect yet another gold medal in a relay.
Katie Hoff, 15. It seems as if every Olympics produces a breakout teenage star, and in Athens the smart money is on Hoff, who stunned swimming experts by whipping much older competition in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys. She hails from the same club swimming team as Michael Phelps–the North Baltimore Aquatic Club–and, like her more renowned teammate, is a multidimensional talent. She’ll make waves in Athens–and could be a superstar by 2008.
Aaron Piersol, 21. Very few people on the planet can consistently beat Michael Phelps, and Piersol is one of them. Though the media played up the novelty of Phelps’s loss in the 200m backstroke, it actually wasn’t a surprise. Piersol, the 2003 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, has dominated the event worldwide for the past two years, and he seems poised to extend his run in Athens. Because defending gold medalist Lenny Krayzelberg has been slowed by shoulder troubles, Piersol will also head to Athens as the favorite in the 100m backstroke.
