Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Why I Think Phelps Is Amazing

OK. Lots of people are on the Michael Phelps train these days, but I just want to document the reason he impresses me even more than other Olympians.

Every Olympian impresses me. They all have incredible skill and dedication. I like some sports better than others, but I am impressed with all of the athletes. They are simply incredible.

Phelps amazes me even more than any other athlete I can think about. On August 13th, he swam about 8300 meters (including warm-ups and cool downs.) That morning, he swam the first leg of the 4 by 200 free relay for the U.S. team that crushed the old world record time by five seconds, and then 53 minutes later he set a world record in the 200 meter butterfly. During the eight consecutive days of swimming competition, he will swim 17 races. It's amazing.

Tennis players actually impress me for a similar reason. When they win a tournament, they have to play set after set on consecutive days. They are impressive, but Phelps is incredible. He is doing so many things in such a short time that is really boggles the mind. Carl Lewis was awesome, but I still give Phelps the edge. Phelps set five world records (three on his own) in the first four full days of the competition. He's an absolute swimming machine.

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