Phelps swims into history

Michael Phelps savoured one last golden moment in an epic Olympic career Saturday, helping the United States claim gold in the 4x100m medley relay to cap the competition at the London Aquatics Centre. “I am feeling sort of emotional, kind of bittersweet,” Phelps’ longtime coach Bob Bowman told AFP. The swimmer he has guided since childhood finished a career spanning four Olympics with 22 medals — 18 of them gold, two silver and two bronze. The final race was more of a victory lap. After all, the United States had never been beaten in the event at the Olympics. Veteran breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima added some drama to the occasion as he seized a narrow lead for Japan. On the following butterfly leg, Takeshi Matsuda managed to hold off Phelps until the turn, but the American reeled him in in vintage style to put his team ahead and Nathan Adrian duly sealed the victory in 3min 29.35sec. Climbing out of the pool, a smiling Phelps hugged his teammates and cheered Adrian’s finish ahead of Japan (3:31.26) and Australia (3:31.58). “Through the ups and downs, I have achieved everything I ever wanted to do,” said Phelps, who has often voiced hopes that his legacy would be not just about medals, but about changing the face of swimming. Once a restless kid who found an outlet for his energy in the water, Phelps matured into a cross-over star surrounded by all the trappings of modern celebrity. But even before the London Games arrived, Phelps was speaking almost longingly of life after swimming. His failure to win a medal in the 400m medley on the opening day of competition raised the spectre of a disappointing send-off, a finale unworthy of his electrifying exploits in Beijing. Instead, the 27-year-old swimmer reversed his fortunes and marked more milestones: surpassing Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for most medals in an Olympic career with 22 and becoming the first man to win the same Olympic swimming event at three straight Games. By the end, Phelps’ London campaign yielded four gold and two silver medals and only served to underscore how brilliant his Beijing feat had been. “I think the further away from it we are, the more we appreciate the difficulty of it and the incredible achievement which it is,” Bowman said. As Phelps put it, “Everything had to fall into place at the right time and everything had to be perfect. And it was.” For a time after his Beijing glory days, it was unclear if Phelps would even attempt to become the first US man to qualify for four Olympics. A tabloid photo fracas in 2009, when a British newspaper ran a picture of him with a marijuana pipe, created an outcry that had him reconsidering his plans to continue swimming through 2012. Even after his mind was made up, Phelps found himself paying the price for his indecision and lack of motivation in training as rivals such as US team-mate Ryan Lochte surged to the top of the sport in 2010 and 2011. Bowman said he doesn’t think Phelps, more mature now than he was four years ago, will suffer from a lack of direction upon retirement. “He has got a good plan for the next three months and I think that will give him time to let down into a more normal pattern,” Bowman said. “He will be doing a lot of travelling, he will be doing lots of appearances and other things. It also has break times built in, which I insisted on.” Phelps has no lack of ideas for how to fill the time formerly taken up by training. “I want to travel a bunch, something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve seen so many amazing places in world but never really got to experience them.” But he won’t turn his back on the sport that’s given him so much. “Even though I am retiring and the competitive side of my career is over, there are things I’d like to do around the sport,” said Phelps, mentioning his charitable foundation and his swim schools. Phelps was 15 years old when he surprisingly booked his first Olympic berth in 2000. He finished fifth in his lone event, the 200m butterfly. By the time the 2004 Games rolled around, Phelps was a force, winning six gold medals and two bronze in a foreshadowing of 2008.In London, he claimed his first two Olympic silver medals, in the 4x100m freestyle and his pet event, the 200m butterfly. From:Khaleej Times