Three finals, three gold medals, three world records. Michael Phelps is not just gunning for Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds, he seems intent on winning all his races in world-record time, as Spitz did in 1972.In the 200-metre freestyle Tuesday at the Water Cube, Phelps obliterated the field and his year-old world record. Sixteen months after becoming the first swimmer to crack the 1:44 barrier in the event, he was the first to go under 1:43. Phelps finished in one minute 42.96 seconds, nine-tenths a second better than his previous best.The 23-year-old Phelps is famous for not revealing his target times, but by the surprised expression on his face it appeared he exceeded his expectations. Asked if he anticipated going under 1:43, Phelps laughed and said, “No, not at all.” Park Tae-hwan of South Korea was second, in 1:44.85, and Phelps’s team mate, Peter Vanderkaay, the top qualifier in the semi-finals, was third in 1:45.14. Almost two body lengths separated Phelps and Park, who set an Asian record.Phelps’s victory was his 17th in 19 finals in the event since his third-place showing at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. One of Phelps’s two defeats came to Vanderkaay in April, but the world was not watching then. When the pressure is on, Phelps seems to turn it on. Halfway through his ambitious program, Phelps has rendered many people speechless. After Phelps took his seat at the interview podium Tuesday, the man moderating the news conference said: “So I have nothing to say. Michael Phelps is here now.”Unbeatable?During the question and answer session that followed, one man asked Phelps, “On this planet is there anybody who can defeat you?” With a shrug of his broad shoulders, Phelps said, “I don’t know.” He added, “I couldn’t ask for anything else so far over my first three medal races.”After Spitz won his sixth gold in 1972, he approached his coach, Sherm Chavoor, and floated the idea of forgoing his final event, the 100-metre freestyle. His target in the Munich Games had been Don Schollander’s record of five golds. And having surpassed that, Spitz wondered aloud if it was not better to rest on his laurels than risk seeing his unbeaten streak snapped by Jerry Heidenreich, the other American in the 100. Chavoor talked Spitz into racing in the event, and the rest, as they say, is history. The 200 freestyle has been a cursed event for American men. They had won only three golds, the last by Bruce Furniss in 1976. Phelps was aware of the challenge ahead. Naturally, he embraced it. “I was disappointed on getting third last time,” he said last week. “I hope I can change something here.” As was the case in the 400-metre medley, Phelps’s first individual event, it was no contest. Swimming in Lane 6, he clocked a 24.31 on the opening 50 to take a body-length lead and never looked back. With the victory, Phelps tied Spitz and three others for the most Olympic gold medals with nine. “To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time with these names in Olympic history,” Phelps said, “it’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.” The comparisons with Spitz are like waves, one rolling in after another, but in one respect, they are distinctly different. Phelps does not just respond to challenges, he seeks them out. “Growing up, even though breaststroke was my worst stroke, I wanted to swim it,” Phelps said. “I wanted to race in it. I didn’t care. I like challenges.” Three down. Five to go.
