Shooting the $hit

The latest buzz in Beijing is emanating from the pool housed inside the magnificent “water cube”. All eyes are transfixed on one man, Michael Phelps, the human porpoise. There is no doubt in any one’s mind that Phelps is an amazing swimmer, quite possibly the best Olympian swimmer of all times. If Phelps surpasses Mark Spitz’s 7 gold medals in the 72′ Munich Olympics then he will unquestionably be the greatest Olympic swimmer of all times. As of now Phelps has 11 gold medals, 6 from Athens 04′ and 5 from Beijing. With 3 events left he has the opportunity of sweeping this summer’s swimming competition, giving Phelps 14 total golds. Phelps has already surpassed the previous record of 10 total gold medals held by fellow swimmer Mark Spitz and track and field legend Carl Lewis; making Phelps the winningest Olympian in history.

The best swimmer is not the best athlete

Now there is no doubt that Phelps is the best swimmer in the world but there have been repeated implications that he is the preeminent athlete in the world. I have the utmost respect for the guy and any Olympian out there but they compete once every four years. Olympians practice day and night for four years to compete in one race; would they be able to do this week in and week out? Michael Phelps is being compared to Tiger Woods, the guy who has been winning PGA tournies for nearly 15 consecutive years. What I’m trying to get at is if the swimming Olympics were held on a weekly basis would Phelps be as dominant as he is now? Even the best like Roger Federer have their slumps and have to learn to find themselves to overcome losing; no one can remain on top forever. If swimming was on TV every weekend Phelps would find himself swimming against new competetitors and eventually he would tire and relinquish his crown. It is a possiblity that this year’s swimming field is not as demanding as previous year’s, maybe some athletes were too young or were injured and never even got the opportunity to make the trials four years ago. All in all there is no way Phelps can be considered the best athlete in the world; he swims once every four years, has a limited pool of competition and has not experienced the physical and mental anguish of racing the best swimmers every week; limiting his potential for injury and failure.

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