Phelps is great

[Cornerville]

8 years of swimming? Next stop London

 

:wallbash:

[ExiledInIllinois]

Best Olympians ever:

 

Jesse Owens

Mark Spitz

Bruce Jenner

Carl Lewis

Michael Phelps

 

These guys in a league of their own... Sorry if I forgot a few others.

[LongLiveRalph]

Whoa whoa, point of clarification- the only record being broken by an margin of 3 seconds was last nights 4x200 RELAY. a.) that's a longer event so breakage could be more substantial, and b.) that's compounded by the fact that it's a relay.

 

Individuals (esp in short races) aren't OBLITERATING records.

 

Gold silver and bronze all beating the previous world record is what I would call obliterating, especially in a shorter race.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Yeah, and so do scores and driving distances?

 

The difference being pools evolve to the swimmers' benefit just as suits and goggles and nutrional plans do too. Whereas in golf, while clubs are easier to swing, balls are easier to manipulate, and distances become easier to gauge (laser sight tecnology), courses become longer, roughs become rougher, and greens slope more drastically.

 

Same thing with skis and technology... Computer design and tech... Skis have to be the only piece of equipment that "made the way to the top atheletes" vs. the other way around where the tech starts at the top and trickles down to the rec user.

 

Think about it... 20 years ago, I was skiing GS on a set of 205 cm sticks... What are they at now? 20+ cm shorter...

[The Big Cat]

Gold silver and bronze all beating the previous world record is what I would call obliterating, especially in a shorter race.

 

Point taken.

 

Exhiled: I don't know crap about skiing!

[IUBillsFan]

I swam competitively for 8 years.

 

If you really swam for 8 years you would know how difficult it is to train for say the 400IM, the 200fly oh and btw break the American record in the 100 free. TOTALLY different training for all those events. That is why it is so special NOBODY else can compete let alone set world records in that many different events.

 

IMO it would be like a track guy do the 100M the 400M and the 400 hurdles AND break world records in all of them.

 

BTW swam for 17 years.

[The Big Cat]

If you really swam for 8 years you would know how difficult it is to train for say the 400IM, the 200fly oh and btw break the American record in the 100 free. TOTALLY different training for all those events.

 

IMO it would be like a track guy do the 100M the 400M and the 400 hurdles AND break world records in all of them.

 

BTW swam for 17 years.

 

Mmmm, well if you want to get technical, I'll disagree with you, but you're right. To be disversified on the world stage is quite a feat. I still think that in swimming it's more common than in other sports.

 

Especially if your events are fly, IM, and free. The large bulk of a swimmer's training is done in freestyle, and there's a crossover in muscle sets between fly and free. Breast is sort of the rogue sport in that its specialist rarely make appearances elsewhere, save the medley relay.

 

I will give you the 400 IM as requiring a radically different training regiment than the other aforementioned. So, yeah, he's a freak. There's no questioning that.

[Alaska Darin]

Mmmm, well if you want to get technical, I'll disagree with you, but you're right. To be disversified on the world stage is quite a feat. I still think that in swimming it's more common than in other sports.

 

Especially if your events are fly, IM, and free. The large bulk of a swimmer's training is done in freestyle, and there's a crossover in muscle sets between fly and free. Breast is sort of the rogue sport in that its specialist rarely make appearances elsewhere, save the medley relay.

 

I will give you the 400 IM as requiring a radically different training regiment than the other aforementioned. So, yeah, he's a freak. There's no questioning that.

Really? Pablo Moralez, another USA Gold Medal Olympic Champion and the head coach of an NCAA Division I Swimming Program says you're full of sh--. Guess which one of you I give credibility to?

 

Dude, STFU. You're flat out wrong. And I'd venture it's an even bet on whether you swam a single lap "competitively".

[sweetbaboo]

And just out of curiosity-is there another swimmer (besides me) who has contributed to this thread?

Me. I competed internationally and also coached high school swimming. Not presently coaching because the swimming culture where I live is awful.

 

For comparison, if Michael Phelps didn't exist and Ryan Lochte was the best the US had, no one would be calling Lochte the greatest Olympian of all time.

[The Big Cat]

Really? Pablo Moralez, another USA Gold Medal Olympic Champion and the head coach of an NCAA Division I Swimming Program says you're full of sh--. Guess which one of you I give credibility to?

 

Dude, STFU. You're flat out wrong. And I'd venture it's an even bet on whether you swam a single lap "competitively".

 

 

 

* <--- you.

 

You're right, I swam one competitive lap in my entire life than boasted about it on a Buffalo Bills message board. Didn't play Division I water polo either. Just out of curiosity, when did you and Pablo last speak?

 

Alaska Darin: Hey, Pablo how's it going?

 

Pablo: Good, long time no talk.

 

Alaska Darin: Tell me about it! Real quick, is it true swimmers compete in more Olympic events than most other Olympians?

 

Pablo: Absolutely not, who ever told you that is full of sh-!

 

Alaska Darin: Thanks, that's all I needed, tell the wife and kids I say hello!

 

[click]

[mead107]

Is he gay ?

[WellDressed]

Phelps just had to swim two finals an hour apart; it takes a special, and incredibly well-conditioned, athlete to hold up over Phelps' workload. That's why you don't hear about a Spitz or Biondi or Phelps every four years. Comparing him to a shot putter, or any other athlete who can concentrate on a single event? I don't think it's applicable.

 

Now, if you'd like to argue in favor of decathletes -- the decathalon record-holder has long been known as the "World's Greatest Athlete" -- I wouldn't disagree.

 

Well Louganis Didn't suck either!!

[WellDressed]

Yeah, and so do scores and driving distances?

 

The difference being pools evolve to the swimmers' benefit just as suits and goggles and nutrional plans do too. Whereas in golf, while clubs are easier to swing, balls are easier to manipulate, and distances become easier to gauge (laser sight tecnology), courses become longer, roughs become rougher, and greens slope more drastically.

 

Illegal in all USGA sanctioned events.

 

Green architecture doesn't change, grasses do.

 

The WEATHER CHANGES

[justnzane]

Well Louganis Didn't suck either!!

well he did, but not in the context you are talking about

[Alaska Darin]

* <--- you.

 

You're right, I swam one competitive lap in my entire life than boasted about it on a Buffalo Bills message board. Didn't play Division I water polo either.

Ah, so it's could be penis envy + stupidity. That actually explains it even better than stupidity + lying.

Just out of curiosity, when did you and Pablo last speak?

 

Alaska Darin: Hey, Pablo how's it going?

 

Pablo: Good, long time no talk.

 

Alaska Darin: Tell me about it! Real quick, is it true swimmers compete in more Olympic events than most other Olympians?

 

Pablo: Absolutely not, who ever told you that is full of sh-!

 

Alaska Darin: Thanks, that's all I needed, tell the wife and kids I say hello!

 

[click]

I didn't have to speak to him, thumbdick.

 

"The view from three-time gold medalist Pablo Morales, now the head coach at Nebraska: "He sort of defies description because, in my opinion, there is no historical precedent for what he has accomplished, how he is accomplishing it, his body of work thus far. You have at once a supremely gifted athlete with a willingness to endure unmatched levels of preparation. On top of this, he is a fantastic competitor, very mentally tough, and he appears thus far to get even better in the face of a tough challenge.""

 

BECAUSE PAT FORDE INTERVIEWED HIM FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO READ ABOUT THIS MORNING.

 

See, we have this thing called the internet and it allows people who actually have experience at the highest level of the sport to give a truly educated take. You know, one that trumps the one of the frustrated "athlete" who wants to denigrate someone else's amazing accomplishment to make themselves feel better.

[Lurker]

Anyone who puts swimming in "another category" has proven one thing: They've never swam competitively. If you're a basketball fan, and you say that swimming is not a difficult sport, go play some hoops at 100% energy level for an hour. You'll be beat, and you'll be saying that you got a great workout. Now come back the next day and swim a 200 fly at competition speed. You'll be crying to your momma when it's over. Swimming is as difficult as any sport out there. I still think that the decathalon winner is the greatest athelete, but michael phelps must be said in the same breath as muhammed ali, tiger woods, michael jordan, wayne gretzky, jim thorpe, etc. Like any "greatest ever" argument, it's nearly impossible to convince everyone that he is the greatest, but its less likely to convince them that he's not part of that group.

Geesh. I don't think he was saying Philips' accomplishments aren't amazing. Rather, he felt that swimmers get more 'kicks at the can' by the nature of their sport than other participants. In other words, comparing medal counts between sports is apples 'n oranges.

[ans4e64]

And for all of you who accuse ME of a smear compaigin- never did I say he wasn't the greastest swimmer, he clearly is. Never did I say his accomplishments aren't that big of a deal, in fact I believe I specifically addressed this.

 

ALL I'M SAYING: is that the media going goo goo gah gah over his MEDAL COUNT is unfair to other athletes who compete in ONE EVENT PER OLYMPICS!---> said athletes being the majority of OlympiaDS.

 

 

Oh. My. God.

 

So because he is more skilled and can compete on an Olympic level in more than one event, its not fair to the people who are only skilled enough to compete in one?

[The Big Cat]

Ah, so it's could be penis envy + stupidity. That actually explains it even better than stupidity + lying.

 

I didn't have to speak to him, thumbdick.

 

"The view from three-time gold medalist Pablo Morales, now the head coach at Nebraska: "He sort of defies description because, in my opinion, there is no historical precedent for what he has accomplished, how he is accomplishing it, his body of work thus far. You have at once a supremely gifted athlete with a willingness to endure unmatched levels of preparation. On top of this, he is a fantastic competitor, very mentally tough, and he appears thus far to get even better in the face of a tough challenge.""

 

BECAUSE PAT FORDE INTERVIEWED HIM FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO READ ABOUT THIS MORNING.

 

See, we have this thing called the internet and it allows people who actually have experience at the highest level of the sport to give a truly educated take. You know, one that trumps the one of the frustrated "athlete" who wants to denigrate someone else's amazing accomplishment to make themselves feel better.

 

I WASN'T COMPARING HIM TO OTHER SWIMMERS! JESUS CHRIST! YOU ARE AN IGNORANT ARGUMENT FARMER!

 

Geesh. I don't think he was saying Philips' accomplishments aren't amazing. Rather, he felt that swimmers get more 'kicks at the can' by the nature of their sport than other participants. In other words, comparing medal counts between sports is apples 'n oranges.

 

THANK YOU! I SAID THIS THREE TIMES!

[sweetbaboo]

THANK YOU! I SAID THIS THREE TIMES!

and I said back in the beginning of the thread

 

...

Phelps has shown consistently in the last 3 Olympics that he stands out among the other Olympic athletes (of all sports) by demonstrating absolute dominance in his sport. Can you name another 3 athletes that are similar? How about just one? Outside of the Olympics, he's also dominating the entire sport of swimming rather than just one or two events. What he's done at the Olympics is mindboggling. He's not out-touching his opponents by fingertips. He's destroying them by full body lengths or more. This would be like an Olympic boxer coming out and knocking out all of his opponents with one punch.

...

Fair? Equating swimming to shotput or f*ucking rifling is unfair. If you're basing the media hype about him being the greatest Olympian solely off of his medal count, then I'd say that the media's focus on the number of gold medals he has is doing him injustice. Medals aside, his dominating performance alone would net him the title of best Olympian. A shot putter would have to throw his shot out of the stadium in multiple Olympics to impress the way Phelps is impressing.

[Alaska Darin]

I WASN'T COMPARING HIM TO OTHER SWIMMERS! JESUS CHRIST! YOU ARE AN IGNORANT ARGUMENT FARMER!

Nah, you were comparing him to air. You didn't have the balls to pick another "OLYMPIAD" to compare Phelps to - mostly because it would be a futile effort. If what Phelps has done is so unremarkable, WHY IS HE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER DONE IT? Thanks for using the really big font, though. Futility never looked so good.

 

You started this thread because you're one of those "I desperately need to be smart in a contrarian manner" without any fact to back it up other than "I swam competitively" - as if that holds any merit.

 

How about the thoughts of another actually "competitive" swimmer:

 

"The view from 200 butterfly gold medalist Melvin Stewart, who was blown away by the versatility Phelps showed by swimming what at the time was the third-fastest 100 freestyle ever in the lead leg of the 4x100 freestyle relay: "It's good to see Kobe Bryant is there to see the greatest athlete in the world. If Kobe goes out and wins a gold medal in badminton, that's what it's like to see this guy win the 200 fly and swim that leg in the 400 free.""

 

You think maybe that guy knows anything about the difference in specialties in the pool or has a modicum of understanding on what Phelps has accomplished (which didn't even mention the fact that he's set the WR in EVERY event thus far)? Probably not as much as some internet blowhard.

 

But I'm an ignorant farmer.

THANK YOU! I SAID THIS THREE TIMES!

And it still sounds retarded. Repeating something over and over again doesn't make it true.