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Monday, July 30, 2012 6:43 PM ET
Phelps Sets up Record-Breaking Tuesday
In the span of 50 metres, Michael Phelps may have set himself up to make history -- twice -- on Day 4 of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The American swimming veteran surged from behind in the last length of the pool to win Monday's second 200-metre butterfly semi-final heat with a time of one minute, 54.33 seconds. It was the fourth-fastest of the heats, overall.
With the win, Phelps will likely swim for two medals on Tuesday night.
First, he will attempt to become the first male swimmer to win three consecutive Olympic titles in one event in the 200m fly. Later in the evening, he is also expected to go to bat for the United States in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay.
A podium finish in both events would bring Phelps's Olympic medal tally up to an unprecedented 19, surpassing current medal-leader Larisa Latynina. The Soviet gymnast earned the last of her 18 medals in 1964.
After winning a record-breaking eight Olympic gold medals at a single Games in Beijing, Phelps took a two-year break and returned to training in 2010. At the time, he told the Associated Press that he had more things he wanted to accomplish in the sport.
"I'm not going to have this opportunity for too much longer. So I might as well give it one more shot, one more go at it, and have fun."
Phelps's first final of London 2012 was not much fun at all, however, with Phelps falling to fourth place in the men's 400m individual medley on the first night of the Games.
The last time Phelps had failed to make the podium from an Olympic final was at the Athens Games in 2004. He was 15, at the time.
"I was lucky (to get into the final)," Phelps said after Saturday's fourth-place finish. "It was just a crappy race."
In Phelps's second London final, the men's 4x100m relay, Phelps looked stronger. On the way to Olympic silver, his split was the fastest of the American team.
So which Phelps is likely to show up in his third and fourth Olympic finals of these Games?
CTVOlympics analyst Joanne Malar is not so sure it will be the latter.
"[The 200 butterfly] is his favourite event," she said, "but coming off a 400m IM where he finished out of the medals, the 400m and the 200 fly are more equivalent in that you need that stamina, you need that endurance.
"He had a great hundred free split in the relay, but when you're coming back into shape after taking two years off after Beijing, you can sprint a little bit better than you can swim the endurance events.
Phelps made his Olympic debut at the age of 15 in 2000, and is already in the record books with the most career gold medals won by any athlete (14), most career individual gold medals won by an athlete (nine), most gold medals won in a single Games (eight in Beijing 2008) and most career medals won by a male athlete (now 17).
But just two years of training for the Olympics. Is it enough?
The American swimming veteran surged from behind in the last length of the pool to win Monday's second 200-metre butterfly semi-final heat with a time of one minute, 54.33 seconds. It was the fourth-fastest of the heats, overall.
With the win, Phelps will likely swim for two medals on Tuesday night.
First, he will attempt to become the first male swimmer to win three consecutive Olympic titles in one event in the 200m fly. Later in the evening, he is also expected to go to bat for the United States in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay.
A podium finish in both events would bring Phelps's Olympic medal tally up to an unprecedented 19, surpassing current medal-leader Larisa Latynina. The Soviet gymnast earned the last of her 18 medals in 1964.
After winning a record-breaking eight Olympic gold medals at a single Games in Beijing, Phelps took a two-year break and returned to training in 2010. At the time, he told the Associated Press that he had more things he wanted to accomplish in the sport.
"I'm not going to have this opportunity for too much longer. So I might as well give it one more shot, one more go at it, and have fun."
Phelps's first final of London 2012 was not much fun at all, however, with Phelps falling to fourth place in the men's 400m individual medley on the first night of the Games.
The last time Phelps had failed to make the podium from an Olympic final was at the Athens Games in 2004. He was 15, at the time.
"I was lucky (to get into the final)," Phelps said after Saturday's fourth-place finish. "It was just a crappy race."
In Phelps's second London final, the men's 4x100m relay, Phelps looked stronger. On the way to Olympic silver, his split was the fastest of the American team.
So which Phelps is likely to show up in his third and fourth Olympic finals of these Games?
CTVOlympics analyst Joanne Malar is not so sure it will be the latter.
"[The 200 butterfly] is his favourite event," she said, "but coming off a 400m IM where he finished out of the medals, the 400m and the 200 fly are more equivalent in that you need that stamina, you need that endurance.
"He had a great hundred free split in the relay, but when you're coming back into shape after taking two years off after Beijing, you can sprint a little bit better than you can swim the endurance events.
Phelps made his Olympic debut at the age of 15 in 2000, and is already in the record books with the most career gold medals won by any athlete (14), most career individual gold medals won by an athlete (nine), most gold medals won in a single Games (eight in Beijing 2008) and most career medals won by a male athlete (now 17).
But just two years of training for the Olympics. Is it enough?
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