Most people don’t know Michael Phelps‘ career-best times, much less the times he actually posted when he won his 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It is rather common knowledge that he won the 100 butterfly by a nerve-wracking 1/100th of a second, but in a sport that is intrinsically measured by time, no swimmer sets their sights solely on winning without also having a goal time to chase after.
In a 60 Minutes feature recorded a few months after the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics when Phelps was perhaps the most popular human being on the entire planet, the 23-year-old Phelps and coach Bob Bowman showed 60 Minutes a sheet of paper listing Phelps’ goal times and splits for every event he would swim in Beijing, and then some.
Diligent swimming fans probably already know that Phelps was way off his goal in the 200 fly (gold medal number 4) thanks to his goggles filling with water. Despite the setback, Phelps still won the race and lowered his World Record from the year before, even if by just 6/100ths of a second. Likewise, Phelps’ start, turn, and finish all left something to be desired in the 100 fly, though in the final meters he miraculously got his hands on the wall 1/100th ahead of Serbian Milorad Cavic, securing gold medal number 7 to tie Mark Spitz‘s record from the 1972 Munich Games.
It is easy to reflect on Phelps’ achievement in Beijing and feel nostalgic, though we mustn’t forget that the Beijing Olympics were, ultimately, one of many swim meets Phelps competed in over the course of his career. And like any other meet, Phelps and Bowman had goal times they wanted to achieve at the Water Cube.
Though Phelps set World Records in 4 of his 5 individual races (plus 3 more through relays), he did not achieve all of the goal times he and Bowman had established in 2007. Furthermore, Phelps and Bowman were not focused exclusively on the races he swam in Beijing and had also set goals for the 400 freestyle, 1500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 200 backstroke.
Phelps achieved his goals in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and 400 IM, though he was off in 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, and 200 IM, though in the interview he says the two fly races were the only ones he “didn’t hit.”
It is interesting to note that Phelps’ goal times in the 400 freestyle and 200 backstroke would have been World Records in 2008 (to this day nobody has broken 3:40 in the 400 freestyle). Oddly, his 100 backstroke is only listed as a 53.0 even though his best time in 2007 was a 53.01, a mere 0.03 shy of Aaron Peirsol‘s World Record from the same year.
Phelps registered a new American Record leading off the 4 x 100 freestyle relay in Beijing, missing the then-World Record by only 0.01, though at the same time Australia’s Eamon Sullivan blasted a 47.24 to take a full 0.27 off the mark set earlier that year by France’s Alain Bernard. The relay marked the only time Phelps swam the 100 freestyle in China as he did not race it individually, and the time still stands as his lifetime best.
Phelps’ Goal Times and Results – 2008 Beijing Olympics
| Event | Phelps’ Goal | Phelps’ Result | WR Prior Beijing |
| 100 Freestyle | 47.50 | 47.51 | 47.50 |
| 200 Freestyle | 1:43.5 | 1:42.96 | 1:43.86 |
| 400 Freestyle | 3:39.0 | DNS | 3:40.08 |
| 1500 Freestyle | 15:05-15:10 | DNS | 14:34.56 |
| 100 Backstroke | 53.0 | DNS | 52.98 |
| 200 Backstroke | 1:53.5 | DNS | 1:54.32 |
| 100 Butterfly | 49.50 | 50.58 | 50.40 |
| 200 Butterfly | 1:51.1 | 1:52.03 | 1:52.09 |
| 200 IM | 1:53.5 | 1:54.23 | 1:54.80 |
| 400 IM | 4:04.0 | 4:03.84 | 4:05.25 |
In addition to the actual times Phelps and Bowman hoped to achieve in Beijing, the piece of paper glimpsed during the interview with 60 Minutes also shows the splits that would be necessary to get Phelps the phenomenal times he hoped to achieve.
Phelps’ Goal Times and Splits – 2008 Beijing Olympics
| Event | Phelps’ Goal | |
| 100 Freestyle | 47.50 | |
| 1st 50: 23.5 | ||
| 2nd 50: 24.0 | ||
| 200 Freestyle | 1:43.5 | |
| 1st 50: 24.5 | ||
| 2nd 50: 26.0 | 1st 100: 50.5 | |
| 3rd 50: 26.5 | 150m: 1:17.0 | |
| 4th 50: 26.5 | 2nd 100: 53.0 | |
| 400 Freestyle | 3:39.0 | |
| 1st 100: 52.0 | ||
| 2nd 100: 56.0 | 1st 200m: 1:48.0 | |
| 3rd 100: 56.0 | ||
| 4th 100: 55.0 | 2nd 200m: 1:51.0 | |
| 1500 Freestyle | 15:05-15:10 | |
| 1st 100m: 56 | ||
| 2nd-14th 100m: 1:01 | ||
| Final 100m: 57 | ||
| 100 Backstroke | 53.0 | |
| 1st 50: 26.0 | ||
| 2nd 50: 27.0 | ||
| 200 Backstroke | 1:53.5 | |
| 1st 50: 27.0 | ||
| 2nd 50: 28.5 | 1st 100: 55.5 | |
| 3rd 50: 29.0 | ||
| 4th 50: 29.0 | 2nd 100: 58.0 | |
| 100 Butterfly | 49.50 | |
| 1st 50: 23.5 | ||
| 2nd 50: 26.0 | ||
| 200 Butterfly | 1:51.1 | |
| 1st 50: 25.0 | ||
| 2nd 50: 28.5 | 1st 100: 53.5 | |
| 3rd 50: 28.8 | ||
| 4th 50: 28.8 | 2nd 100: 57.6 | |
| 200 IM | 1:53.5 | |
| 1st 50: 25.5 | ||
| 2nd 50: 28.5 | 1st 100: 54.0 | |
| 3rd 50: 33.5 | ||
| 4th 50: 26.0 | 2nd 100: 59.5 | |
| 400 IM | 4:04.0 | |
| 1st 100: 55.0 | ||
| 2nd 100: 1:00.0 | 1st 200: 1:57.0 | |
| 3rd 100: 1:11.0 | ||
| 4th 100: 57.0 | 2nd 200: 2:07.0 |
After slowing the video down to 25% of normal speed and attempting many times to pause at just the right moment, we arrive at these stunning images… though you shouldn’t expect to see these among SwimSwam’s best photographs of 2020, it does give us a look into what was going on behind the scenes with Phelps on the way to Beijing.
The picture below shows (through a heavy blur) the goal sheet Phelps and Bowman put together in 2007 as they readied for the Beijing Olympics.
Though Phelps fell short of his goals in the 100 and 200 fly events in Beijing, he broke both World Records the following summer at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, setting marks that would stand for 10 years. Of course, it is difficult not to wonder what Phelps would have done in the 200 fly had his goggles not filled with water forcing him to count his strokes for the majority of the race, making his victory simultaneously legendary and frustrating.
Slacking off on the butterfly there….
Maybe those goal times were established before he broke his wrist 8 months before the 08 Olympics too. He mentioned several times that he wasn’t 100 percent at those games because of that injury.
I’ve been wondering for years where you could have put the 400 free record if he raced it
Thank you
We’ve been curious about this for a decade
Here’s another hypothetical: Phelps 400m fly – sub-4:00? I’d believe less than 5 swimmers ever could do that, but he’s one.
There is no way on earth anyone in the past or present could break 4 mins in a 400 fly.
The guy was a 403 IM. He could have cruised a 158 200 fly and brought the back half home in under 2 minutes. Idk who the others are that could have managed it, but for Phelps the only question would have been how far under.
Milak presumably, given he’s walloped Phelp’s 200 WR with a monster back half.
Chad would probably go 53-62-70-80 for a 4:25…
80 is awfully optimistic. I’m genuinely not sure he’d finished if he went full chad.
As I was writing it I was thinking Milak and Luca could probably manage it, but other than that, I’m not sure
Ya, there’s a reason fly events stop at 200…Fly would not split well past 200m, even an “easy” 1:57 first 200 would hurt way more than an equivalent 200free split of around 1:50.
4:03 in the IM, and his 200 fly was a couple seconds faster than his 200 IM. His butterfly was so effortless.
Mireia Belmonte did 4 29 in 400m fly in 2016 on summer nacionals. I’m sure phelps could have go under or around 4 min.
I’ve waited for this article since the 08 video came out
Since the Olympic schedule is set so far in advance, Phelps had to decide early on if he would try to do 400 free or IM on day 1. But here are some things to consider for a hypothetical Phelps 400m free:
Peak Phelps was faster than Peak Thorpe at 200m free.
In 2008, Phelps 400m IM was better than his 200m IM. All his strokes were better at 200m than 100m.
Phelps matched Bowman’s 100m free goal, was 0.5 better than his 200m free goal, and we can only guess on the 400m free goal.
When Phelps broke the 400m free AR in 2003 (3:46), his best 200m free was only 1:46.
I think Phelps STILL has the record… Read more »
Not saying he couldn’t have gotten the record, but his biggest strength over Thorpe in the 200 free were the underwaters. That’s not going to help that much in a 400.
Phelps freestyle stroke was still incredible. And he was better at the 200 than 100 and had great finishing splits in the IM. He could have challenged Thorpeys times.
It’s a shame Thorpe coasted into the finish when he set the world record for the last time. He was doing a huge event schedule at the Commonwealth games and wanted to save a bit. Would have gone 3:39 that day. Turns out that he was never quite in that form again. As for Phelps – I agree with a previous commenter that he put lots of events ahead of nailing absolute perfection in any one event but who wouldn’t when you can legit do almost any event you want at world level. I could see Phelps getting very close to 3:40 if it had been a focus for him. I’m glad however that he did 4IM as it felt… Read more »
I always felt that MP was always slightly torn between improving his 100 and improving his 400. It’s really hard to be absolutely elite in both, and Phelps definitely picked the 100, whether for relay impact, prestige, or just his aging body.
I feel that, if he really tried, he could have had great success in the post-Thorpe 400 free world, though possibly at the cost of his 100 speed. Even Thorpe, who might have been the greatest freestyle swimmer ever, never quite nailed the 100-200-400 combo (though World/Olympic bronzes are nothing to be sniffed at).
Yeah I think Thorpe is the most successful person to do it. Athens: Gold in the 400 and 200, bronze in the 100. I bet 1 or 2 other people ever have even medaled at the same Olympics in 3 individual freestyle events. At least post-1950.
Of course PVDH, the man who’s story is always intertwined with Thorpe’s, has done this. 50-100-200 medals in Sydney 2000 (bronze-gold-gold), Worlds 2001 (silver x3) and 2003 (bronze-silver-silver).
I feel like PVDH might be the most overlooked superstar ever, his Olympic medals and world records are insane. Huge legend in Europe though but then again this is an American site…
Debbie Meyer (1968) and Katie Ledecky (2016) both went triple gold in the 200-400-800.
Shane Gould (the only person since at least WWII to unite all the freestyle WRs) went bronze, gold, gold in the 100, 200, 400 in 1972.
Matt Biondi went gold, gold, bronze in the 50, 100, 200 in ’88.
PVDH went bronze, gold, gold in the 50, 100, 200 in ’00.
Sun Yang went silver, gold, gold in the 200, 400, 1500 in ’12.
As far as I know, those are the only people to medal in three freestyle events at the same Olympics since 1950 (though Hackett and Sjostrom and probably a few others did it at the WCs)
If you’re adding WC, Tim Shaw won gold in the 200,400,1500 at 1975 worlds.
You left out Shane’s silver in the 800 at Munich. Medaled in all freestyle races is unheard of…..she was special.