- Michael Phelps’ Golden Goggles

Written by Isabel Lyman

Tuesday, 19 August 2008 09:20

A confession: I vowed to spend zero time watching the Beijing Olympics because of the Chinese communist government’s relentless suppression of civil and religious liberties, and their one-child family planning “policy.”

And I don’t care for the country’s practice of offering dog meat on restaurant menus, either.

But my Western principles took a dive (pun intended), thanks to a 6 ft. 4 in., 23-year-old swimmer from Maryland named Michael Phelps. Like tens of millions of my fellow citizens, I’ve been glued to the television set for the past two weeks watching the “American Aquaman,” as the New York Times dubbed him, win all those races, break several of his own world records, and earn the most gold medals at a single Olympics.

Last weekend, Phelps was officially crowned the greatest Olympian of all time, after he and the team of Aaron Piersol, Jason Lezak, and Brendan Hansen won the 400-meter medley relay and his eighth gold medal of these games. (He won eight medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.)

After race number eight, Phelps was quoted as saying “nothing is impossible.”

Sure, if you’re Michael Phelps, but the rest of us are exhausted.

While all his races have been memorable, number seven – in which he beat the Serbian Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly by a fingernail or one-hundredth of a second – was the most clutch. Cavic kept it interesting by trash talking before the race, saying "it would be good for the sport if he [Phelps] lost."

Right.

Debbie Phelps, Michael’s mom and arguably the second most photographed person at the 2008 Olympics, held up two fingers after the race, indicating her youngest child had won the silver medal in the event. Sitting next to one of her daughters, Mrs. Phelps comically dropped to the ground when she saw that he had achieved gold and also tied Mark Sptiz’s record. Spitz, the famously mustached California swimmer, made history when he won seven gold medals in 1972 at the games in Munich. After the seventh race, Spitz rightly described Phelps’ achievements as “epic.”

Raised in a single parent home, diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at a young age, bullied by other kids, and put down by a teacher who said he would “never be able to focus on anything,” Phelps overcame all the obstacles. Thanks in no small part to being gifted with a physique that was designed for competitive swimming and to a visionary coach, Bob Bowman of Baltimore, who saw his Olympic-sized potential at age 11. Of course, Phelps still had to exercise the discipline and perseverance that keeps champions in chilly pools in the dead of winter lap after lap, hour after hour, day after day, and year after year. When most youngsters would have long thrown in the towel (ha ha), Phelps stuck with his dream of being the best at his sport.

As importantly, when the eyes of the world have been upon him, and when those cheering him on at the “Water Cube” in Beijing have included President George W. Bush, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, the smiling Phelps has remained modest, sportsmanlike, and attentive to his mother and two older sisters. There’s even a fun, new phrase being used to describe his Herculean accomplishments – “Phelpsian feat.”

For one shining moment, Phelps succeeded in helping many Americans forget about a divisive national election, a shaky economy, and a never-ending war in Iraq.

Thank you, Michael.

Maybe now I can go fish out those principles that floated to the bottom of a glittering swimming pool.