The Way of the Water | Michael Phelps

As the sun set on the Sydney International Aquatic Center in the summer of 2000, a legendary week of swimming came to an end. Australian Ian Thorpe was a teenage Olympic superstar and world record holder. American Dara Torres had completed the first of her two Olympic comebacks and the two nations were comfortably at the top of the medal table. Team USA's Tom Malchow took home the 200-meter butterfly title with an Olympic record time of one minute 55.35 seconds, just shy of his own world record. A 15-year-old American from Baltimore came fifth in that final. His name? Michael Phelps. Within a year, that 200-meter butterfly world record would belong to him, the first of dozens he would hold in an illustrious career.

Phelps was a child phenomenon, setting records in American age groups as young as 10. And although he didn't leave Sydney with an Olympic medal, the swimming community had just caught a glimpse of the talent of the next generation. By Athens 2004, Phelps had become a five-time world champion and held multiple individual world records to his name, asserting his dominance in the butterfly and combined events. And on a sunny afternoon in mid-August, Phelps' Olympic dream came true. He won the 400m individual medley and did so in style, breaking his own world record and beating his closest opponent by about three full seconds.

Phelps raised his first in the air in triumph, looking at the video board and smiling, before hugging his teammate Eric Vent, who captured silver. Even though he was only 19, Phelps looked like a seasoned veteran, a swimmer who could challenge anyone and anything put in front of him, something that came true two days later in the 200-meter freestyle final. male. Dubbed the race of the century by the press, Phelps would challenge Dutch great Pieter van den Hoogenband and Australian phenom Ian Thorpe for gold. The trio were lined up side by side, with van den Hoogenband running with a ferocious start and Thorpe following close behind.

Phelps stayed back, a signature move for which he became known, as he consistently had the stamina to catch up and take advantage of his opponents in the final meters. This time he would have to settle for a well-deserved bronze medal, as Thorpe snatched Olympic glory from van den Hoogenband in the closing stages of the race. A highlight for Phelps came in the 100m butterfly final, where he took gold in an Olympic record time of 51.25 seconds. Incredibly, Phelps opted to defer the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley relay to his teammate Ian Crocker, then the world record holder in the 100m. meters butterfly, giving his compatriot one last chance to win gold in Athens.

Crocker did not disappoint and Team USA won gold in world record time. Phelps might have left Sydney yearning for more, but he was leaving Athens with a full trophy case: an incredible 8 Olympic medals, including six gold, 4 Olympic records and a world record. At age 23, Phelps had already accomplished more than most Olympic athletes can dream of in a lifetime. But he wasn't done. Not even close. Phelps' mission in Beijing 2008 was clear. He was going to break Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in a single Olympic Games. He was going to win 8. A seemingly impossible goal that did not lack sacrifice.

Phelps had spent most of the last decade in the

water

and even skipped opening ceremonies to prepare for the most grueling event: the 400-meter individual medley. He won in world record time, almost 5 seconds faster than the mark he set in Athens. The search for eight was underway. But his next challenge was arguably his most difficult: the 4x100m freestyle relay before the final. The French, led by eventual Olympic 100m champion Alan Bernard, were heavy favourites. Every way the press analyzed the race to the final, it had the same results: France won and the United States settled for silver.

If the Americans had even the remotest chance of winning gold, it would take a miracle. And that's exactly what they got. Phelps set an American record in the first leg with a blistering time of 47.51, but sub-48-second swimmers from teammates Garrett Webber-Gale and Cullen Jones were not enough to stop the Frenchman, who took the lead. The Americans were veteran Jason Lezak. When he dove, he was more than a body length behind Bernard. He's done. It was too steep a hill to climb, even for a three-time Olympian like Lezak. At the turn, Lezak made up some ground, but Bernard was still firmly in the lead.

France was going to win this relay and the Americans would have to settle for silver. But Lezak refused to give up and dug deep with each stroke as the race entered the final 25 meters. Even with the entire world watching and hoping the French would win, Lezak did not stop. In the last five meters, Bernard pressed and Lezak threw his last blow to the wall. He had achieved it. Lezak beat Bernard by less than a tenth of a second and the bucket of

water

burst in disbelief. Lezak's time of 46.06 remains the fastest in 100-meter long swimming history.

And for Phelps, his quest for eight golds was still alive. He spent the rest of his schedule setting world records in each event and bringing his tally to 6 gold medals. To tie Spitz's record, Phelps faced his biggest individual challenge of the games in the 100-meter butterfly. His challenger to him? Serbian Milorad Čavić, who topped the standings after the qualifying and semi-finals ahead of Phelps. Čavić wanted to be the swimmer who stood in the way of history. Phelps needed something special to win this race. The two stared at each other, almost as if they both knew that whatever the outcome, it would go down in the annals of Olympic history.

Čavić leads around the corner. Phelps was well behind the rest of the field. Perfect. By now, Phelps had established himself as not the swimmer who would take an early lead. It is he who chases you in the last meters, as if his resistance had no limit. With five meters to go, Čavić held his breath and lowered his head, as if he wanted to fight his way to Olympic glory. Phelps swung his arms for one more punch and Čavić slid into wall one in a hundredth of a second. As if the relay wasn't dramatic enough, Phelps added another incredible victory for good measure.

The seventh gold medal was secured, Spitz's record was tied and Phelps was on the brink of history. The 4x100m medley relay gave Phelps the opportunity to bask in the glory of what he has accomplished. The American quartet of Phelps, Lezak, Aaron Piersol and Brendan Hansen won easily in world record time. 17 swims in nine days, 8 gold medals, seven world records. A feat in the world of sports similar to climbing Mount Everest. Phelps was now more than just an Olympic athlete. He would become immortal. What more could Phelps achieve on the Olympic stage? He had broken countless world records, had become a household name around the world, and had more Olympic medals than entire nations combined.

He wouldn't participate in 8 events like Beijing, but the world still expected greatness and in the first event, the 400m individual medley, Phelps finished off the podium for the first time since Sydney. After all, the greatest swimmer of all time was a human being. And while a close second-place finish to Chad Le Clos in the 200m butterfly would have given some pause that a changing of the guard was necessary, Phelps was quick to remind the world of what he was capable of. It's incredible to see six medals, four gold and two silver, and think that things were meant to be different.

But Phelps was more than happy to enjoy his swan song, finishing the games as the most decorated Olympian in history. 22 medals, 18 gold. Who could top that? The pressure of being one of the best athletes of your generation is an incredible weight to carry on your shoulders. Adjusting to life after swimming was no easy task for Phelps, and his struggles inevitably came into the spotlight. His return to the pool for Rio 2016 was not an easy task. But there is something that only the greatest athletes in history possess: an unstoppable fire deep within them that allows them to achieve the impossible.

Phelps had done it all and what else was left to do? For starters, attend the opening ceremony for the first time in his career, an occasion marked by Phelps' naming as Team USA's flag bearer. This was a different Michael Phelps, an athlete who proudly embraced his role. mentor and leader. He was still the same incredible swimmer who had always won five gold medals, but one of the most special moments of his Olympic career came surprisingly when he earned a silver medal in the 100m butterfly. Humiliated by Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, who idolized Phelps as a child, he tied for second place with his veteran competitors Le Clos and Hungarian László Cseh.

As the three, hand in hand, walked to the podium, the world enjoyed the happy moment and appreciated the incredible race they had witnessed. At this point all of Michael Phelps' individual world records have been broken. The latest will take place until summer 2023 in French rising star Leon Marchand's 400m individual medley. As the sport inevitably evolves, there will be more swimmers who swim faster than Michael Phelps. There may well be a swimmer who wins 9 gold medals in a single game, but no one will ever be a champion like Michael Phelps. More than being the best swimmer of all time, Michael Phelps will always be one of the best Olympic athletes to ever achieve the 39 world records in this sport. 28 Olympic medals, 23 gold and a name that will live forever.