2016 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
- Sunday, June 26 – Sunday, July 3, 2016
- CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska
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- NBC Broadcast Schedule
- Day Four Finals Live Recap
With his victory tonight in the 200 fly, Michael Phelps became the first man to represent USA Swimming in five Olympics Games. Phelps and long-time coach Bob Bowman sat down with the media for a fairly lengthy and, at times, emotional press conference. You can (and should) watch the full video above, but here are a few highlights:
Phelps looked strong and in control for most of the race, but was visibly struggling the final lengths. Asked to describe the last 50, Phelps responded:
Awful! All you gotta say. No, it’s — honestly, I said to Bob, I said I wanted to be a 1:22 at the 150, and I was. I haven’t felt great in the water but…We have a little over thirty days to prepare ourselves for the next time that we race, and Bob and I have talked about some things that we probably can change between now and then and just move forward.
Phelps on his relationship with Muhammed Ali, who recently passed away:
I had the privilege of spending a few moments with Muhammad Ali. My first one before the 2004 Olympics, and I’ll never forget him holding his first up to my face and saying, “You better win all of those gold medals”!
Just being able to be around somebody who did what he believed was best and, you know, he was himself and I think that was awesome
Can someone tell me WHY Bowman always has to be in the press conference with Phelps wherever he goes? He must have some self esteem issues – wants to be noticed, recognized, or praised for the amazing “coaching” he’s done with Phelps. He’s like that crazy uncle who always shows up uninvited for Christmas. Halfway through this interview you can see Phelps roll his eyes when they talk about records – and Phelps states that he always believes that records are meant to be broken – but Bowman believes that when he swam in the full suit, and he was in his “prime”, those records won’t be touched – Phelps then rolls his eyes and you know he’s thinking –… Read more »
You know, Phelps has become a lot more articulate as he ages. It looks good on him. There were times in the past where I would despair, and I have always marveled at the difference between Bob’s cerebral nature and Phelps’ sometimes painfully repetitive responses, but he has come around to speaking in paragraphs. Lets hope he keeps aging well in all facets of life.