Susuto

Michael is clearly the reigning Olympic athlete of all time - watching him swim is amazing. I must say one thing though; It’s easy to get caught in the blur and think he’s just ‘fast’ or ‘made to swim fast’. In actuality, Phelps is not a ‘fast’ swimmer, per se, but a, mechanical, consistent swimmer. More than being designed to swim fast, he’s designed (and trained) to swim perfect. There’s a reason that Phelps doesn’t swim 50m sprints, pulls out only marginal victories on 100m swims (and sometimes loses them in team relays) but absolutely decimates the competition in anything 200m or over. It’s technique, training, stamina and perfection.

One of his biggest assets (self-admittedly) is his flip turn, and power off the wall matched with his dolphin kick. Where other swimmer’s tempos are interrupted, or where other swimmers are mentally weak, or where other swimmers are merely strong, Phelps is perfect. His decision making skills in the water are perfect: Look at this latest race where he made a split-second (and rare) decision to add a half-stroke to finish in to the wall. THAT was what won the race for him.

Drugs can’t get you what Phelps has. End of story.