Rio de Janeiro: Phelps
became the first U.S. male swimmer to qualify for five Olympics with a victory
in the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. swimming trials Wednesday night, another
huge milestone in the water but even more significant, given what has happened
away from the pool.
“With everything that’s
happened and being able to come back, that was probably harder than any swim
I've had in my life,” Phelps said.
With seven-week-old Boomer
in the arms of his mother at the CenturyLink Center, Phelps cruised to a
victory that meant as much personally as all those triumphs that came before.
The infant wore noise-canceling headphones adorned with American flags so he
wouldn’t be startled by the huge roar that went up when his daddy touched the
wall first.
Phelps reflected on his
stumbles since London, most notably a second drunken driving arrest that
prompted him to take a whole new look at his life. He reconnected with his
long-estranged father, got engaged, gave up alcohol and committed himself to
closing his career with a flourish.
Missy Franklin turned in one
of the gutsiest performances of her career to earn a spot for Rio in the 200
freestyle. One night after she struggled to seventh in the 100 backstroke, an
event she won four years ago in London, there was plenty of speculation that
she'd be hard-pressed to qualify for any individual events at these Games.
Phelps held off a stiff
challenge from Tom Shields to win the 200 fly, the first event Phelps ever swam
at the Olympics, 16 years ago in Sydney. For now, Phelps sounds like an Olympic
rookie talking about the thrill of going back to the Olympics, where he’ll get
a chance to add to the already staggering amount of hardware he has accumulated
at the last four Summer Games: 18 golds and 22 medals overall.
He also joined a pretty
exclusive group with Dara Torres, who made five Olympics on the female side.
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