Michael Phelps

03Feb08

Reading a few recent articles (1 [this one's by Melvin Stewart], 2, 3, 4 ,5) and watching some videos (1, 2, 3) got me thinking about Michael Phelps again. For those who know little more than “Michael Phelps is a pretty good swimmer,” read this wikipedia article. I was going to summarize his career myself, noting the number of medals he’s won at various competitions and whatnot, but I mainly wanted to go over events in detail.

First, note that a time difference of 1 second roughly corresponds to a body length. This means that if Phelps’ best time in an event is 1 second faster than anyone else, then if he raced the 2nd fastest person to ever swim the event, and they both swam their lifetime best times, Phelps would finish one body length ahead. 

Phelps has swum the 200 Fly 2.47 seconds faster than anyone else (whereas the 2nd to 10th fastest performers’ times range from 1:54.56 to 1:55.42, a separation of 0.86 seconds, Phelps’ best time is 1:52.09.). He has the 7 fastest times ever recorded, and 8 of the top 10.

Phelps has swum the 200 IM 1.13 seconds faster than anyone else (whereas the 2nd to 10th fastest performers’ times range from 1:56.11 to 1:59.36, Phelps’ best time is 1:54.98.) He has the 4 fastest times ever recorded, and 7 of the top 10.

Phelps has swum the 400 IM 3.41 seconds faster than anyone else (whereas the 2nd to 10th fastest performers’ times range from 4:09.63 to 4:12.36, Phelps’ best time is 4:06.22.) He has the 4 fastest times ever recorded, and 6 of the top 10.

Phelps has swum the 200 Free 0.20 seconds faster than anyone else. Though this separation isn’t quite as impressive as the previous three, note that the 2nd fastest person to ever swim the event is Ian Thorpe, whose best event was either this event or the 400 Free. The 200 Free is Phelps’ 4th or 5th best event.

Phelps is the 2nd fastest person to ever swim the 100 Back, where he is only 0.03 seconds slower than the world record holder’s time.

Phelps is the 2nd fastest person to ever swim the 100 Fly, where he is only 0.37 seconds slower than the world record holder’s time.

Phelps is the 3rd fastest person to ever swim the 200 Back, where he is only 0.33 seconds slower than the world record holder’s time.

Beyond his 4 world records and 3 events where he is at the very top, Phelps is the 11th fastest to swim the 100 Free and the 17th fastest in the 400 Free. In other words,

of the 14 individual swimming events, at 22 years old Phelps is at least the 3rd fastest person ever to swim 7 of them, and in 2 more he is at least the 17th fastest ever.

Holding a world record in an IM, specifically the 400 IM, already displays versatility (as opposed to, say, the other extreme of being the best in the 50 free and never swimming anything else). Holding another record in a non-IM event shows dominance in a specific stroke as well. Phelps holds records in two other strokes (fly and free) and is nearly the best in another (back).

Markus Rogan, a world-class backstroker and Olympic silver medalist, said “people kept saying Thorpe at his peak was better than Phelps at his peak. Now [at the 2007 world championships] that question is answered. I think he really thrives on challenges like that.”

Massimiliano Rosolino, an Olympic gold medalist and world-class freestyler, called Phelps’ 200 free at the world champs “unbelievable,” stating that he “couldn’t [swim Phelps' time] even splitting it up and resting between laps.”

Apparently (Matt Lauer said this in an interview), Mark Spitz, the only other swimmer that can be compared to Phelps (besides maybe Thorpe), has said that Phelps is better than Spitz was.

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