Last week, the world witnessed something special. What we saw transcended not only the sport of swimming but also the world of athletics. Michael Phelps came to Beijing with an impossible goal: win every race he’s swum. He would have to run multiple times in the same day on a schedule that would break every other human being on the planet in half. He proceeded to not only win every race, but also broke 7 world records in the process. Phelps comes into the Olympics not only with an unprecedented amount of pressure for any athlete in history. When Mark Spitz won 7 golds, the world wasn’t watching his every move waiting to see if the feat was possible. All great athletes have had to deal with pressures and overcome obstacles on their way to greatness. Last week Michael Phelps took greatness to a different level, last week we witnessed what perfection looks like.

In the last few days I have seen several articles from different sources trying to put in writing what he achieved. Various excuses from confused journalists (most of whom have never practiced high-level athletics) talk about what they can’t understand, what they simply never experienced, and find excuses to write down the greatest achievement of a human being in the history of athletics. sport.

These are some of the excuses I have read and heard:

1. Swimming is an easy sport: I challenge anyone to swim 10×200 meter butterfly repetitions without breaking the stroke and with no more than 30 seconds of rest. When you’re done, write talk again about how easy it is to swim. Before that, talk about the things you know and avoid sounding so silly.

2. Not many people swim competitively, so it’s easier to be the best: More people compete in swimming around the world than in other sports that are very popular in the United States. Around the world, swimming is much bigger than soccer, baseball, and hockey. By these standards (most people participate in sports), then Tiger Woods would not be in the top 500 athletes and football players will be booked into the top 50 spots.

3. Not a multi-sport athlete like Jim Thorpe, Bo Jackson, and Michael Jordan: Swimming styles are very different from each other, and different distances require training on different energy systems. When you are a baseball player, you can train by playing soccer or basketball. You can also be a track athlete and that will translate to almost any team sport on land. Swimming is done in a different environment, and while there are things you can do outside of the pool to improve performance, nothing translates to swimming. You can be a great basketball, baseball, football or soccer player and grow up in the pool. Michael Phelps is an unprecedented multi-talented aquatic athlete. By the way, how did Jordan fare in his MLB career?

Michael Phelps may not have played a popular sport, but he mastered one of the most difficult sports to coach at a time when the sport is at its peak. Swimmers from all over the world tried to stop Phelps from reaching perfection and failed. Now a confused journalist is trying to downplay his feat, but he too will fail, because the parameters are simple: Michal Phelps dominates a sport that has competitors all over the planet at a time when the sport is at its peak and training methods they are highly developed. . Phelps’ feat doesn’t take anything away from Maradona, Jordan, Pele, Muhamed Ali, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Bo Jackson, Carl Lewis or Mark Spitz but he puts it in a category of its own: the Phelpsian dimension.

In conclusion, even if you feel like Michael Phelps isn’t the best ever, it’s in our best interest to sit back and learn. Phelps’ success was based on the following principles:

1. Develop your strengths and use them to your advantage: the underwater kick in turns.

2. Build your weakness until you don’t have it: the breaststroke leg in IM races.

3. Develop as a human being too: In his interviews, he keeps thanking his teammates and was at a loss for words to describe their unique achievements. Did you see that Terrel Owens?

4. Turn every event into a motivational opportunity: Ian Thorpe saying 8 golds weren’t possible, the Frenchman littering before the relay, and Cavic declaring he was going to ruin Phelps to reach perfection, akin to throwing gasoline on a fire already well lit .

5. Win at all costs without cheating: Major League Baseball and the Tour de France should take a page out of this book.

6. Stay true to yourself: Phelps’ mom was on camera almost as much as he was. Phelps is not only the greatest athlete that ever lived, he is also a great human being and that is a breath of fresh air.

If you didn’t follow Phelsian Week, try checking it out on replays or on YouTube. I’m sure there will also be a DVD. Last week a human being reached athletic perfection and we were alive to see it.