Michael Phelps, described by fellow swimmers as a “phenomenon” and “on another level,” said he’s proud to be compared with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.
The 21-year-old Phelps smashed his third individual record in as many days at the world championships in Melbourne. Today he set a fourth world record with teammates in the 800 freestyle relay to collect his fifth gold medal. The American is going for a record eight titles this week.
“A buddy of mine actually read of me being in the names of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer,” Phelps told reporters after his 200-meter individual medley win last night. “That is a pretty big accomplishment and definitely something I’m proud of. They have changed their sports themselves so hopefully I can do the same in swimming.” The 31-year-old Woods, the top-ranked golfer, has 12 major titles, six short of the record, while Federer, 25, captured his 10th tennis Grand Slam championship at January’s Australian Open to move within four of the all-time mark.
The Baltimore-born Phelps extended his record tally of world championship victories to 15 with today’s relay win. He has entered five individual events and three relays in Melbourne as a tryout for next year’s Beijing Olympics.
This week, he already set world records in winning the 200- meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter medley. He also recorded a personal best in the opening leg of the 400- meter freestyle relay that would have been good enough for a gold medal in the individual event.
‘Another Level’ His rivals, including two-time Olympic champion and 100- meter freestyle world record-holder Pieter van den Hoogenband, are getting left behind. The Dutchman finished 2.4 seconds behind Phelps for the silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle three days ago.
“I was one of the few people on this planet who had never lost a race to Michael Phelps,” Van den Hoogenband said. “But in the final he brought it to another level. He’s a grown-up man now. The sky is the limit.” Phelps’s achievements may not help raise his profile back home. Swimming ranks about 12th in the U.S. sports market, according to Mike Unger, assistant executive director of Colorado Springs-based USA Swimming.
“We don’t have the continual reinforcement of a broadcast property,” Unger said in an interview in Melbourne. “Michael could walk down in most of the cities in America and not be recognized. It’s tough to get in the top 10 because we’re just not on very often.” Spitz Target Phelps is targeting Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics in Beijing in 16 months. Phelps won six golds at the Athens Games and eight medals overall. Four more titles would make him the most successful Summer Olympic athlete ever.
“Records are made to be broken,” Spitz said in Melbourne this week. “Phelps does have a chance but there’s a lot of things that have to go right and there’s a lot of preparation that has to go right.” Spitz said Phelps wouldn’t be helped by the staging of finals during the morning in Beijing. While Phelps said his “test drive” for the Olympics was going “very well,” U.S. teammate Tara Kirk said he’s out on his own.
“He is just a phenomenon, a mutant or something,” Kirk said. “He’s just going for personal best times now and they just happen to be world records.”
