Michael Phelps is considered as one of the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport but his tally of medals and dominance is simply unbelievable.
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If Michael Phelps was a country, then he would be placed 38th in the all-time list of gold medal winners in the Olympics. The sheer dominance by Michael Phelps in swimming has made fans and analysts shocked. Phelps’ performances in the Olympics and in other major world events has made him the G.O.A.T of the sport. What are the factors that made Phelps such a legend? How did he transform the sport of swimming with his exploits?
Before the evolution of Phelps, American swimming had gotten the gold standard of Mark Spitz winning seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Now, for every American swimmer, Spitz was the benchmark. Now, how did Phelps prepare for this? According to one article in the blog MySwim Pro, Phelps swam 80,000 meters a week. In miles, it was 50! His training was focused on drills, underwater kicking, vertical kicking and sculling. For a strong and legendary career, the basics had to be right and Phelps did that from the word go.
Ideally, for an athlete to excel in sports, he/she would have to work hard and hone their skills to build their body for endurance. But, for Phelps, he had a body ideal for swimming.
If one had a look at Phelps’ body dimensions, he has a height of 6 feet 4 inches. However, Phelps has the torso of a man who is 6 feet 8 inches tall and the legs of a man 8 inches shorter. The advantage that Phelps has is that a disproportionately large chest enables more power and less drag from the legs. There is also less water resistance in every swimming stroke.
According to one report in the Telegraph, a normal person would have a wingspan which is the same as their height. The wingspan is measured from fingertip to fingertip. In Phelps’ case, his wingspan is three inches longer than his height. A longer wingspan means your arms can reach farther.
In which category was Phelps the best? All one might argue. But, it was the butterfly event that he dominated. In this category, the feet and ankles play a massive role. Phelps’ feet size is 14. But, his double-jointed ankles bent 15 percent more than his rivals. There is one more factor that has helped Phelps. In an article in Biography, researchers found that Phelps produced less lactic acid so it made him less tired. He also had a high lung capacity. If your lungs send more oxygen to your muscles, it can help improve your performance in any sport.
With Phelps’ body and mindset now fully in control, it was time for domination. His mother, also an ace swimmer, passed tips to him. His diet and sleeping habits were conditioned for success.
In an interview with Men’s Health, Phelps would have a large ham and cheese omelet, a big bowl of oatmeal, fruit and coffee for breakfast. Lunch was hearty meatball sub. For dinner, Phelps had lean meats, whole grains and lots of veggies. When it came to training, he would spend five to six hours in the gym for six days. He would sleep for eight hours in the night and sleep for two-three hours in the day. Good rest, intense physical shape and good diet helped Phelps mature into one of the best in the business.
In every category of swimming, Phelps was the win machine. Be it the 100m, 200m butterfly, 200m medley, 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 4 X100m, 4 X 200m and 4 X 100 medley, Phelps was versatile and consistent with success.
At the World Championship Trials for the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, on March 30, Phelps broke the world record in the 200-meter butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest male ever to set a world record in swimming. At the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Japan, Phelps won three gold medals and two silvers. In his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, Phelps won gold ahead of Erik Vendt with a time of 4:12.48.
In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Phelps won his first Olympic gold medal in the world record time of 4:08.26. Phelps won a gold medal with a time of 1:54.04, breaking Tom Malchow’s Olympic record in the 200-meter butterfly. In the 4X 200-meter freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Klete Keller, finished in first place with a time of 7:07.33.
Two days later, in the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps finished first with a time of 1:57.14, an Olympic record. In the 100-meter butterfly final, held the following day, Phelps defeated American teammate Ian Crocker by just 0.04 seconds with a time of 51.25.
After winning his first gold in the 400m medley, Phelps swam the first leg of the 4 X 100-meter freestyle relay in a time of 47.51 seconds. He won his second gold medal of the 2008 Olympics, as well as setting his second world record of the Olympics. Phelps broke his previous world record in the 200-meter freestyle by nearly a second and won his third gold medal. In 200-meter butterfly, Phelps made it four gold medals and world records in four events by defeating silver medalist Laszlo Cseh by almost seven-tenths of a second. The win came despite his goggles’ having filled up with water and being unable to “see anything for the last 100 meters.” This fourth gold medal was his tenth, and made him the all-time leader for most Olympic gold medals won by an individual in the modern Olympic era.
There was more glory in store. In the 4 X 200m freestyle, Phelps swam the lead-off leg of the 4 X 200-meter freestyle relay. With Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Peter Vanderkaay, he won his fifth gold and set his fifth world record. Phelps won his sixth gold of the Beijing Games on August 15 by winning the 200-meter individual medley. The American won his seventh gold medal of the Games in the men’s 100-meter butterfly, setting an Olympic record for the event and equaling the tally of Spitz set in 1972.
Phelps’ fifth individual medal in Beijing equalled the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. On August 17, 2008, Phelps won his eighth gold medal in the 4 X 100-meter medley relay and created history.
After another successful show in the London Olympics, Phelps chose to retire from the sport. However, he was convinced to make a comeback and in Rio 2016, he put on another great show. He was on course to equal his own record after having won seven gold medals in the 2016 Olympics.
However, in the 100 m butterfly, Phelps was defeated in his last individual event by Singapore’s Joseph Schooling. Phelps secured joint silver along with Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh. His tally of 28 medals, in particular his tally of 23 medals, puts him on a different pedestal of greats. Consider this, he has more medals than countries like India, Austria, Indonesia, Slovakia, Thailand and the majority of South American countries. Phelps is without a doubt one of the greatest ever athletes to have graced the sport. Period!
