Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Is it Cool to Cheer for Michael Again?

Remember this? Here's hoping for more
Olympic years are different. They have a way of making the time since the last event seem totally irrelevant. The swimmer in recent memory who this used to hold most true for was Gary Hall. Hall seemed to go into hibernation after winning gold in the 50 free in 2000. And yet there he was again, in Athens, getting his hand on the wall first. Now, witness the recent signs that "THE GREATEST SWIMMER OF ALL TIME" is starting to look like it again, dropping world leading times at the Columbus Grand Prix. There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Phelps can once again wrest his crown as the world's best swimmer from Ryan Lochte this summer in London. The question is: do we (swimming fans) want him too?


Swimming fans are not a monolith, but if I were to generalize I would say we were pretty fired up in 2008. Phelps pursuit of eight golds dominated the Olympic lead up as well as the actual event. It's damn fun to have swimming be the biggest sports news in the world. It didn't hurt that there was no shortage of drama along the way, with the meet featuring two of the greatest finishes in recent history.

At the time, I thought it was inevitable that there would be a backlash. I never imagined it would be this bad. First their was the bong incident. Then, Ryan Lochte surpassed him in summer 2010. He finished an embarassing 14th in the world in an event (400 IM) he was once untouchable in. He promptly "retired" from swimming it. Lochte mania was on- fans were deluged with stories. Lochte is doing strongman training! Lochte trains approximately 1,053,005,325 yards a day! Lochte is a model! Lochte has sneakers! Meanwhile, Phelps was called out by his own coach for his work habits and continually harassed by a Southern California master's swimmer.

The public perception of Phelps completely changed. It wasn't cool to root for him anymore- he was portrayed as a child squandering his talent. It didn't help the matter that Lochte was a "late bloomer" in comparison, a swimmer who didn't really take off internationally until entering college. Nor did the fact that Phelps had always been uncomfortable at best with media, whereas Lochte, despite saying little more of substance, managed to project a sort of "surfer" cool.

All of this ignores the significant challenges that Phelps has faced. If we've learned anything from hollywood, it's that child stardom can trap someone at the maturity level they became famous at. Phelps is now well into adult hood, yet he remains with the same coach he's had since he was twelve- a coach who from my vantage point has gained far more from that relationship for quite a while now. Not too mention- what do you do after the best Olympic performance of all time? Where do you go from there?

And so, as Phelps' Olympic swan song approached, the narrative was clear. Phelps would limp off into the sunset. Where once he dazzled audiences with his world class abilities in anything but breaststroke (not too shabby there either), Phelps would go out as a specialist. He would likely win the flys and round out the podium with Lochte in the 200 free and IM.

Only, it's looking a little more lately like that's not a given. This summer in Omaha, and beyond, I'll be cheering for Phelps again, whether it's "cool" to do so or not. It has nothing to do with Lochte or his opponents, it's just that if I'm about to see the last couple races of perhaps the best swimmer I'll ever see, I'd rather they be spectacular.

17 comments:

  1. "it's just that if I'm about to see the last couple races of perhaps the best swimmer I'll ever see, I'd rather they be spectacular."

    I could not agree more, Chris.

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  2. I'm team Lochte, but I want the races (200 free & 200 IM)to be close at trials & the Olympics. I love how they bring out the best in each other. My mind constantly changes about who will win. This week I think it has to be Phelps given his performance in Ohio. Last week I was sure it will be Lochte because he's worked his butt off for 3+ years. The only thing I know for certain is they will have some of the best races ever.

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  3. its upsetting that people trash on phelps so much. He has brought SOOOO much to the sport of swimming. I believe Phelps will dominate again in london

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    1. Or has the sport of swimming brought SOOOOO much to Phelps? Phelps is benefiting big time and he earned it, but how is the sport of swimming benefiting?

      Membership of little kids may increase, but college programs are being discontinued. Revenue may increase, but opportunities are disappearing.

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    2. Phelps didn't swim in college because of NCAA rules. Perhaps the college swimmers should step up.

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    3. You're missing the point - Is the sport of swimming any better than it was four years ago? I don't think so.

      (Actually, I've heard of swimmers securing funds to save their college team and the request was denied)(four year endowment).

      I'm happy for Phelps, I like to see prople succeed, but I don't see how his success has helped the sport of swimming - even if you take college swimming out of the equation.

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  4. Cheering for Michael in 2010 and 2011 was very cool. All the bandwagonners and faux swim fans gone.

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  5. Lochte may have worked his butt of for 3+ years but he can never claim to have the dedication Michael Phelps has shown to this sport THROUGHOUT his career. When you hear he once never took a day off in a 6 year span...do you really feel comfortable judging him for "slacking off" for a couple of years. The Olympic games is what feeds MPs drive, he will bring his A game to London.

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    1. How do you know all these things? You speak in absolutes like you have the facts "Lisa". As far as I am concerned, "being human" doesn't involve going to an unfamiliar place and getting high with strangers when you are a public figure. That's not keeping it real, that's being real dumb. I'm no saint and don't claim to be perfect, but c'mon man. I'm bit more excited for Phelps now that he has that drive back, but I still have say Lochte is my favorite on the men's team.. Regardless, I am glad Phelps has regained his drive for London and it will make for some spectacular races. Just wish he didn't hate the 400IM, I wanted to see him post a time that would not be touched for a while, if ever. Hope everything clicks this year for the 2fly and he posts a monster.

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    2. almost every high level athlete has experimented with drugs and alcohol dipshit

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  6. Anonymous, yes well the bandwagonners are back but at least we can we never doubted the greatest swimmer in history.

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  7. These are my favorite comment threads! "I'M A BETTER SWIM FAN THAN YOU!" and "YOU GET YOUR HUMAN BEING CARD TAKEN AWAY IF YOU DOUBT PHELPS FOR 0.1 SECONDS." No matter what, this is going to be absolutely amazing. So much fun. I'm pumped. Someone in the office put on some Lil' Wayne. Let's do this.

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  8. I never said anything about being a "better swim fan" lol More like a true Phelps-fan, I didn't jump on the Lochte bandwagon just because he was behaving like a human being.

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  9. When was it ever uncool to cheer for MP? I couldn't tell by the still very audible cheers I heard for him during introductions before races and after he won races, in various meets, even during the "lean" (for him) years since Beijing.

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  10. Thank you for writing this. I think Phelps deserves more respect from USA swimming community than he actually gets. I also want to thank Mike Gustafson for his article "Michael Mania".

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  11. Kori,

    Just a feeling I've gotten in domestic competition and from message boards/sites. The crowd was clearly in Lochte's corner in 2010 and has been since then. Thats what the article is about.

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  12. almost every high level athlete has experimented with drugs and alcohol dipshit

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