The Michael Phelps Olympic Show is Live, and This Is Why It Matters

2000 Olympic Games, Sydney. I wasn’t there. I took it in like most people, a fan, riding the couch, caught up in the human drama. My emotion peaked when a 15 year old, gawky kid dropped a 1:57 in the 200m butterfly. I levitated off the couch, staring at the TV agog, jabbing my finger at the swimmer in 5th place.

“That kid’s only 15! “

15 years later, we are all still watching the best television series drama in sport…and the star is a swimmer.

I think we all feel a kinship with Michael Phelps. It’s different for everyone, how they identify with him, the swimmer. I swam 200 fly, Phelps’ breakthrough event. I understand the pain, the totality of work required to properly compete in that race. It’s real, raw, shoulder-grinding miles and years of plain suck. Mostly, and this is something all swimmers know intimately, it can be lonely and utterly unglamorous, logging hours upon hours with your head submerged underwater. Phelps suffered that long, long before anyone ever pointed a camera at him.

The Olympics, often driven by nationalistic pride and the country medal-count, morphed into something else over the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Games. We all lived the experience through Phelps. Swimmers globally cheered him on, and after the celebrations ended and the cameras powered down, being a swimmer changed. When you told someone, anyone, you swam, they knew Phelps, knew swimming was important, beautiful in its own way, and challenging, a sport to be respected. Michael did that, more than anyone in the history, and we are all the beneficiaries.

Michael Phelps by Mike Lewis Mesa-2Phelps’ return to competition in Mesa was met with fanfare, and it answered a lot of questions. Yes, he’s back in training, and, more importantly, he’s not on autopilot. He’s doing real work. His choice to race 400 free is a strong indicator. No one wants to churn their legs for 400 meters to, as Phelps described it, “see where I’m at…see what I can do.” His analysis after the 100 butterfly, his 52.3, was more telling. “I need to train 200 fly,” he said. “I need it to feel my stroke, to get my stroke count down to 16 instead 17 per lap.” Phelps performances in Mesa, his times, were solid, but it was clear he was training-through the meet. Coach Bob Bowman, always great fun in the media scrum, described the situation with a tight, nearly gleeful grin, “He’s tired. Last year he didn’t do enough work to get tired. This year, Michael’s doing the work.”

Bob Bowman Michael Phelps by Mike LewisAs media, you’re a fly on the wall at competitions. You stay out of the way and keep your mouth shut. Mostly, you watch, listen closely, and hope you’re witnessing history, something you’ll look back on and say, yeah, that was the moment when it started, when we knew something great was coming. Mesa, that mundane, middle-of-the-season swim meet, may have been it. There was a quiet confidence about Phelps…and Bowman. It was subtext. I couldn’t put my finger on it on until late into the following week, but the Mesa engagement with these two men felt more like a pre-2008 Olympics meet.  There was more intention and focus behind the Mesa competition as a lens to the future. 2016 isn’t far off, and they’re already there, in Rio, in their minds, preparing for every minute detail. Conversely, on Phelps run-up to the 2012 Olympics, it seemed he was working at it, struggling at times–the pro swimming star, carrying the torch, keeping the mantra alive. “I want to change the sport of swimming.”

Michael Phelps by Mike Lewis Mesa (1 of 7)Legacy matters to all elites in sport. It’s exponential when you have 22 Olympic medals and potentially more. There’s no reason to suffer the pain of preparation without a bigger purpose. Phelps, as of Mesa, appears poised to handle that weight and cap his career in style. Life has roughed him up, but he’s come out of it with almost zen-like calm. “I’m happy to be back in competition,” he said with an easy smile. “I’m just happy to be here.”

Michael Phelps by Mike Lewis Mesa 2015 (1 of 1)-6Energized with the support of the Phelps family in the stands, now one stronger with his fiancee, the scope of his purpose in swimming is becoming more crystalline. His plan to change the sport, meaning grow the sport, has stronger cohesion. The Michael Phelps Foundation, now in its 7th year, is maturing as a nonprofit, and Phelps’ Swim Schools are popping up in countries as far away as India. Phelps’ reach, however, while global, wasn’t a bricks-and-mortar distribution system. It is now. The launch of his MP brand, designed by Aqua Sphere, pulls it all together. Aqua Sphere’s reach is massive. They have footprint in over 90 countries. Phelps and Coach Bowman’s excitement is palpable when they talk about MP, and share how they were hands-on developing the products engineered for performance and speed.  It’s hard to not get caught up in their enthusiasm, knowing their history and passion for the sport they’ve dedicated their lives to.

The takeaway from Mesa is that Phelps has a lot of reasons to be motivated, and they’re all coming together right now.

Next up Phelps competes in Charlotte. It’s one of roughly ten to twelve competitions left before the 2016 Olympics Trials in Omaha. Pop your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show. I don’t know about you, but this is one chapter in swimming history I’m going to watch very, very closely, and one day, share with my grandkids.

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Chris Burke
9 years ago

Ultimately, not to sound cynical, it’s also about marketing. Phelps and Bowman have a phenomenal deal with AquaSphere that will allow Phelps to be the household name of swimming the way Jordan continues to be for basketball (another individual athlete who changed that sport and how it’s market share exists in sports related merchandising).

Don’t get me wrong, Micheal is about competing and pushing himself to be great, BUT…

It’s also smart business thinking when you are the GOAT to not only change the awareness of the sport but also to alter it’s marketability.
The deal with AquaSphere must have Speedo awake every night, if not in tears. It’s not even the realm of Lochte or Couglin to… Read more »

9 years ago

Megusts aprender más sobre natación tengo una escuelita en catemaco Veracruz

9 years ago

soy nadador tengo 13 años y mi sueño es convertime en un gran nadador

liquidassets
Reply to  jonnathan
9 years ago

Buena suerte, mijo! Good luck young man.

Lane Four
9 years ago

I am only going to say that we need to wait for Rio. The competition in the U.S. is getting stronger in his events. I want Michael to win as many GOLD medals as is NOT humanly possible (I hope the readers understand I want him to do the perceived impossible). I just don’t want to jinx him. So, as soon as he is on the team and is swimming six or seven events in Rio, I will pray as hard if not harder than anyone that he wins nothing but gold. But for right now, I will focus on Nationals and then Trials and then Rio. So, for the moment, onwards and faster, Michael. Just PLEASE get your butt… Read more »

Years of Plain Suck
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

Mel: your phrase in the fourth graf — “years of plain suck” — is descriptively brilliant! I may just have to start using it as one of my alternative “noms de Swimswam.”

max
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

I thought he got 5th at 1:56.50? I still can’t imagine a 15 year old going to the olympics and making a final I am about to be 15 and I can go below 2:40 in a 200 fly it is just mind blowing what he could do at such a young age.

Danjohnrob
9 years ago

Awesome article Mel! It hadn’t hit me yet that we’ve been watching Michael for 15 years! Wow!

I feel the same way about Phelps’ career. I’ve always followed swimming, very closely, but because his life (both the good and bad parts) has played out in front of the camera, I feel like I know him better than the other athletes and we have a “kinship”. Also, I feel very grateful to him, not for winning his medals, but for bringing media attention to our sport so that it’s important and newsworthy and “respected”!

Just as with any novel or TV show that has captured my attention in the course of my life, when I get to the final chapters… Read more »

Danjohnrob
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

The thing about MP winning medals in Rio is that we would be watching something of historical significance. He could 4-Peat in FOUR events! Granted, 2 of them would be team events, but even if you only consider the individual races, nobody has won 2 individual events 4 consecutive times in any sport! Only 2 athletes have done it in one event (Al Oerter, discus; Carl Lewis, long jump). What keeps running through my mind is: 4 x 4 = 16 in 2016! 🙂

But you’re right, Mel, the medal count is what will dazzle the media and bring more attention to our sport. You’re right too, Lane Four, he has to take it one step at a time…

Honestly,… Read more »

Walter
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

5. Michael Phelps United States 1:56.50

Even crazier than 1:57!

Lane Four
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

27 medals…..my head swims thinking about that. I just wish he would be photographed with ALL of the medals around his neck. I know…..sounds ridiculous…..but am I the only one who wants to see ALL of the medals?????

max
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
9 years ago

I thought he got 5th at 1:56.50? I still can’t imagine a 15 year old going to the olympics and making a final I am about to be 15 and I can go below 2:40 in a 200 fly it is just mind blowing what he could do at such a young age.

About Gold Medal Mel Stewart

Gold Medal Mel Stewart

MEL STEWART Jr., aka Gold Medal Mel, won three Olympic medals at the 1992 Olympic Games. Mel's best event was the 200 butterfly. He is a former World, American, and NCAA Record holder in the 200 butterfly. As a writer/producer and sports columnist, Mel has contributed to Yahoo Sports, Universal Sports, …

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