May 20, 2005

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Phelps: 'I want to swim faster'

by Rick Eymer

Michael Phelps loves speed, and when he's in the water he has no equal. He put a face to American men's swimming after winning eight medals (six gold, two bronze) at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Phelps, who will appear at the inaugural Stanford University International Grand Prix meet today through Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center, maintains a simple goal.

"I want to swim faster than I have before," he said at Thursday's press conference. "That's always the goal. I set very high goals, and not all the time standards I have set for myself have been met. I want to swim faster."

The meet at Stanford is another stepping stone for Phelps and about a dozen Olympians who are aiming toward the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Montreal in mid-July.

More than 600 swimmers will be competing at Stanford this weekend, including Cal grad Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals, including two gold, in Athens.

The spotlight is on the 19-year-old Phelps, however, who maintains a furious pace in training for his eight events, and continues to reach out to swimming fans around the world. He just signed with two Japanese companies and will film a commercial for an MP3 player there.

Phelps, who at age 15 became the youngest man to set a world record, has also grown up as an individual despite the constant attention he has received since his teenage years.

"Michael has a perspective on his life and how swimming fits into it that he didn't have before Athens," Michigan and Club Wolverine coach Bob Bowman said. "Before Athens he gave up a lot of decision-making and put the rest of his life on hold. Now he's grown up and out in the world. He's a much more mature young man. And now he's in college and going through that experience."

Phelps understands his role as swimming ambassador these days, and does his best to promote the sport. He also understands his role under the international spotlight as he seeks to establish himself as one of the best swimmers of all time.

He's the only man to break five individual world records at an international meet (he still holds three world records and three American records), the only man to win five U.S. National titles at the same championships and the only man to win to ever win a U.S. National title in three different strokes at one national championship.

Those are things he accomplished before setting the swimming world upside down with his performance in Athens.

"No one has seen anyone like Michael since Spitz," Club Wolverine teammate Klete Keller said. "The swimming world is definitely changing. When someone hears I'm a swimmer, the first question is always 'Do you know Michael Phelps?' It's exciting to be in that atmosphere even if the cameras aren't pointed at us."

The charismatic Phelps, a fan of the NFL Baltimore Ravens, was able to turn the worst moment of his life into something positive. He was arrested for driving under the influence after a Maryland state trooper saw him drive through a stop sign.

"There's not much the public doesn't know," Phelps said. "That was the hardest part of my life. I made a mistake. I know that and I will continue to learn from that. I've been able to live life without restraints and experience new things, some good and some not. My goal is how can I stop people from making the same mistake? The biggest message I have is to be responsible."

Phelps recovered from the setback nicely, taking his message to high schools and community groups.

"I have been able to have a lot of good support," he said. "Without the support I've had, I wouldn't be as fortunate as I have been."

He was also happy to resume training as part of a daily regimen.

"I'm happy to be back on the right track," Phelps said. "I have a schedule and I feel like my old self again. Now I'd like to promote the sport of swimming as much as I can and take it to a new level."

Thanks to Phelps and his teammates ("With Team USA we come into competition as one and exit as one," he said), the growth of the grand prix series - which also has a stop in Santa Clara in June - has given swimming new visibility in the United States.

"When I used to go to grand prix meets I'd never see a television crew or the local press," Phelps said. "Now swimming is getting more attention and the public is able to see what we can do for ourselves and our country."

Phelps becomes the biggest name to compete at Stanford, and the school has hosted the elite of the sport, including world-record holder Coughlin, and former world-record holders such as John Moffet and Jeff Rouse. The list of past Olympians is virtually endless and includes the likes of Pablo Morales, Markus Rogan, Tom Wilkens, Jenny Thompson, Summer Saunders and Janet Evans.

"I love coming to California," Phelps said. "I wish we could come back here every year. I was here over the summer for two weeks and when we came back this week it brought back old times. I'm excited to swim here."

In addition to Phelps, Stanford grads Randall Bal (100 back), Jayme Cramer (800 free relay), and Tara Kirk (100, 200 breast) along with current Stanford swimmers Ben Wildman-Tobriner (400 free relay) and Kristen Caverly (200 breast) are all members of the World Championship team, and all (except Caverly) will be at Stanford this weekend.

Preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. each day, with finals at 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 (adults) and $3 (students) for the prelims and $8 and $6 for the finals. All session passes are also available.

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