I'd thought to do something a little different for this blogpost. Michael Phelps is considered the Reigning King of Swimming. Who is his queen? If a swim meet were a woman, how would she speak to Michael? Think of a swim meet as the ultimate High Maintenance chick who will only date the man worthy of the highest honor - Her acknowledgement that he is The Best at every test. With a little help from Destiny's Child, the following is what Miss Fina 'WorldCup' Sweden would've said to Michael:
"Oooh I put it right there made it easy for you to get to..."
Michael was slated for five events in Sweden: 100 free, 100 backstroke, 100 individual medley, 100 fly and 200 medley. This schedule was not completely new for Mike, but of course there was the 'Suit Issue.' To get a jump on FINA's rules for next year's approved suits, Mike decided to go with jammers instead of the full length technical suits that caused so many problems this year. There were not too many of Phelps' well known competitors at the event. Still it was Fina-level, so all the swimmers competing were worthy of watching. And since most decided to wear the full length suits, Mike was taking the chance that he would not have the best times during the meets. Also there was talk that Mike's training schedule was not 'consistent.'
"Oooh Im starting to believe that Im way too much for you..."
Mike didnt make finals for 100 Back, 100 Fly, and 100 Free. For prelims he finished in crazy spots like 15th (DQd in 1 Back) and 16th in 100 Free and was 7th in 100 IM. He posted times that B. Bowman probably wouldnt accept during practice. He was disqualified in the 1 Back because he swam more than 15ft under water after a turn. All these things are standard for a talented new comer, not a 14 Olympic Gold Medalist.
"You movin so slow like you just don't have a clue..."
So finally Mike gets to the 100 IM final and gets a third place Bronze. He then got Silver for the 200 IM. The good news is that he was rocking cute 'Wolverine' style hair on the podium.
"If you can't make me say oooh like the beat of this groove,
YOU DONT HAVE NO BIZNESS IN THIS. HERE'S YOUR [MEDALS] BABY, YOU-ARE-DISMISSED!"
All joking aside, later this week Mike moves on to Berlin leg of the Fina World Cup 2009. He will use the jammer again and see what he can do with the Berlin schedule. It's a good thing Mike decided to leave out the full body tech suits early. What kind of times will the other swimmers turn in when it's time to dump the tech suits? This whole meet once again brings out the haters that think Mike will be left behind in the new world of swimming. But since the ban on suits starts Jan 2010, that new world is going to be pretty brief in existence. Overall, Stockholm was the worst and best thing to happen to Mike. He can see what he needs to do to be back in top form. And as usual Mike's performance brought attention to the sport. So we'll just have to wait to see how he does over the next few months.
Besides we can't expect every swim meet to treat Mike like Miss Beijing 'Olympic' China on final day of competition ;)
"Let me cater 2 U cause baby this is your day. Do anything for my man, baby U blow me away. I got Ur [Medals] Ur [Honors] Ur [Respect] and so much more, anything U want, just let me cater 2 U"
