Phelps also showed on Wednesday the brazen right to nonchalance that excellence allows. Asked about his thoughts on going for a record eight golds in a single Olympics, he replied, “I haven’t said anything about breaking any record. My goals have not been published.” Was he playing down expectations? Of course not. Here’s what he said soon after: “I like challenges. When I make my goals, they are all challenges.”

He is also challenging the current orthodoxy on the smog. While most of America’s athletes are training at Dalian to stay away as long as they can, some cyclists got into Beijing this week wearing masks. “I have been here a few times,” said Phelps, referring to the pre-Olympic trips he’s made to Beijing. “I haven’t noticed any breathing problem.” Sure, his routine requires little time outside: “I stay in my room and watch movies all day. But I walk to the dining hall and to the bus.”

Phelps, who famously dislikes the early morning wake-ups that are a part of any serious swimmer’s life, says the morning finals do not worry him: “It’s the Olympic Games. Be ready to swim and compete when you have the opportunity.” And till he hits the competition on August 9, he does, he says, imagine the Water Cube jampacked: “I’m looking forward to being in that atmosphere.”

The water cube

•The National Aquatics Centre will host the swimming, diving and synchronised swimming events

•Construction began on December 24, 2003 and the was delivered on January 28, 2008

... contd.