Phelps sees new records at worlds
Source: Agencies |
July 16, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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MICHAEL Phelps is predicting the long world-record drought will come to an end this month at the World Championships in Shanghai.
The 26-year-old American has dominated swimming, winning eight of his 14 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, and is competing in up to seven events at the world championships.
Swimming's world-record drought has reached 18 months in the Olympic-size 50-meter pool since the ban on rubberized suits at the beginning of 2010.
"People just want it more now. We're going to see faster swimming than we've really ever seen," Phelps said in Australia's Gold Coast, where the US team is preparing for the championships. "There are going to be a lot faster swims than even the Olympics or the world swimming championships in '09 - even with the 'suits' we have now."
An incredible 43 world records were set at the world championships in Rome two years ago, including Phelps marks in the butterfly and 400-medley, and overall between 2008 and 2009 - the rubberized suit era - there were more than 200 records set over long- and short-course.
Many swimmers and coaches thought after the suits were banned last year that it would take a decade before the records start tumbling again. Men are now only allowed to wear textile suits from the waist to the knees and women are restricted to suits that stretch from the shoulders to the knees.
Phelps said swimmers were paying more attention to fine detail and were getting into better physical shape now.
"You see people doing stuff now both in and out of the pool that are allowing them - and preparing themselves better - to work on the small things that really end up making a big difference," he said. "There are a lot of people swimming faster now than they did in the suit. A lot of newer names that are swimming fast."
Phelps said it wasn't a matter of if, but which records were broken. He holds the records in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly, and the 400 Individual Medley. He's swimming the 100 and 200 fly, the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle in Shanghai, where the swimming program gets underway on July 24.
Phelps is coming off eight months of intensive training which followed about 18 months when he was "in a funk," and not overly dedicated to training. So he's not sure if he'll be setting any new marks.
"I would love to break a world record. I would love to do a best time," he said. "It's time to get up and race now. It's like the old feeling I used to get leading up to meets - just being excited to get in the water and race."
Phelps said he was in much better shape than he was last year and had starting to get the kind of feeling back that he had before the Beijing Olympics and 2009 World Championships.
"This is like a pre-Olympic meet. Really shows you how everybody else is preparing and what you need to do," he said. "I'm excited. Looking forward to seeing how everything is going to go. This is going to be the start for next year. That's something that I'm ready for."
Phelps had the aura of invincibility during his dominating run, but let it slip because he said he went through a stage when he couldn't be bothered with training.
The 26-year-old American has dominated swimming, winning eight of his 14 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, and is competing in up to seven events at the world championships.
Swimming's world-record drought has reached 18 months in the Olympic-size 50-meter pool since the ban on rubberized suits at the beginning of 2010.
"People just want it more now. We're going to see faster swimming than we've really ever seen," Phelps said in Australia's Gold Coast, where the US team is preparing for the championships. "There are going to be a lot faster swims than even the Olympics or the world swimming championships in '09 - even with the 'suits' we have now."
An incredible 43 world records were set at the world championships in Rome two years ago, including Phelps marks in the butterfly and 400-medley, and overall between 2008 and 2009 - the rubberized suit era - there were more than 200 records set over long- and short-course.
Many swimmers and coaches thought after the suits were banned last year that it would take a decade before the records start tumbling again. Men are now only allowed to wear textile suits from the waist to the knees and women are restricted to suits that stretch from the shoulders to the knees.
Phelps said swimmers were paying more attention to fine detail and were getting into better physical shape now.
"You see people doing stuff now both in and out of the pool that are allowing them - and preparing themselves better - to work on the small things that really end up making a big difference," he said. "There are a lot of people swimming faster now than they did in the suit. A lot of newer names that are swimming fast."
Phelps said it wasn't a matter of if, but which records were broken. He holds the records in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly, and the 400 Individual Medley. He's swimming the 100 and 200 fly, the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle in Shanghai, where the swimming program gets underway on July 24.
Phelps is coming off eight months of intensive training which followed about 18 months when he was "in a funk," and not overly dedicated to training. So he's not sure if he'll be setting any new marks.
"I would love to break a world record. I would love to do a best time," he said. "It's time to get up and race now. It's like the old feeling I used to get leading up to meets - just being excited to get in the water and race."
Phelps said he was in much better shape than he was last year and had starting to get the kind of feeling back that he had before the Beijing Olympics and 2009 World Championships.
"This is like a pre-Olympic meet. Really shows you how everybody else is preparing and what you need to do," he said. "I'm excited. Looking forward to seeing how everything is going to go. This is going to be the start for next year. That's something that I'm ready for."
Phelps had the aura of invincibility during his dominating run, but let it slip because he said he went through a stage when he couldn't be bothered with training.
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