Michael Phelps’ run-up to his last Olympics begins with this week’s US national championships.
The 14-time Olympic gold medalist is facing his biggest month of the year in the pool, but the challenge is more mental than physical.
Phelps has competed sparingly so far this season and hardly achieved the results he’s used to. A month ago in Paris, he struggled in his freestyle events and appeared off form.
“Not being as satisfied as I want to be leaving here I think is more than likely going to happen,” he said on Monday. “It’s going to be a meet that is more mental than physical.”
The top two finishers in each event qualify for the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships later this month and from that group, the US team for next year’s world championships will be chosen.
Failure to qualify for those teams means US swimmers won’t be competing at a major international meet until the 2012 London Olympics.
Phelps is scheduled to swim five events in Irvine: The 200m freestyle; 100m butterfly; 200m fly; 200m individual medley (IM); and 200m backstroke.
Phelps’ busiest day will be his first, when he is scheduled to compete in two events today.
“I’m more motivated now than I have been all year,” he said. “Not being where you want to be is frustrating. You know what you need to do to get back and you know what you need to change.”
Phelps is still perfecting his new freestyle stroke, which was flawed in Paris, where his timing and stroke were off.
“It is a lot better than it was a couple weeks ago,” he said. “I feel like I can actually swim freestyle again. That’s always a good feeling coming into a nationals meet.”
Many of Phelps’ Beijing Olympic teammates are here looking to solidify their schedules for the next two years.
Ryan Lochte injured his left groin last week, which has curtailed his breaststroke practice. He planned to test the stroke before deciding whether to swim the individual medleys, where he would compete against Phelps in the 200 IM.
If he can’t do breaststroke, Lochte still has an ambitious schedule planned with five other events, including the 200 backstroke against Phelps and Aaron Peirsol.
Natalie Coughlin is competing in the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle; a resurgent Katie Hoff could swim up to five events; Jason Lezak attempts to extend his career at 34; and Jessica Hardy tries to regain a place on the international stage after a one-year doping suspension that ended last year.
The meet represents the US’ biggest test so far this year of the return to textile suits.
Gone are the neck-to-ankle suits made of polyurethane materials that revolutionized the sport but are now banned by all the major governing bodies. The suit frenzy reached a peak at last year’s world championships in Rome, when 43 world records were set.
At the start of this year, FINA — the sport’s international governing body — passed new rules on how much skin could be covered and what fabrics could be used for swimsuits in competition. Men are only allowed to wear waist-to-knee “jammers,” while women can wear shoulder-to-knee suits and only textile materials may be used.
Since then, times have been slower, including at the Australian nationals in March.
“I still think you’re going to see tight races,” Phelps said. “For me, I’d rather see a tight race than watch a world record get obliterated by five seconds.”
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