The Golden Ticket : Speakers & Interviews

so basically half of you are saying hes not a good ambassador for the sport of swimming......

Soooooo, why did he win 8 medals? I think its the races that counts guys, not how well he can analyze his training. Geez.

Guys,

What is the problem with Phelps. Everyone always wants to take shots. Let the kid deflect questions like having no idea about his taper. Someone said he was bad for the sport because he is always "playing dumb" and really all he is doing is taking care of himself. Anyone notice he is still a little awkward - he needs to keep it simple because everyone knows when they just start to get their mouth running something comes out the wrong way. Also, people are complaining he "is Bowman's puppet." It sounds to me like he is a world class swimmer who listens to his coach and deflects training question to Bowman. This is what a good swimmer is supposed to do - trust in their coach! I didn't see anyone posting how Webber-Gale believes in his coaches is bad? Nobody likes the guy on top and in this case it is a particularly awkward one (even though he is getting better he is not there yet) - give him a break. In 10 years we will all have been happy to have watched.

i know! lol i can imagine, once, he fell on me! seriously

the pale guy with the buff legs in the background is bowman.

=]

a couple of weeks ago i was at a clinic with bowman and i asked him about michael running and he says that he does not run because he is extremely clumsy outside of the water.

the chuck norris of swimming.

you know, I think phelps is great with the press. we don't need to know everything about his taper. he is a great ambassador, because he knows how to deal with them. phelps knows what is going on. he just does the smart thing by not saying

Oh man.
1. Of course he's not lazy. Clearly posted by a non-swimmer. Swimming tens of thousands of yards a week for 8 years and racing some of the best in the history of the sport is the polar opposite of lazy
2. He obviously knows how tapered he was. Are you kidding me? He's one of the most self-aware swimmers out there. He just doesn't feel the need to reveal specific details of his physical conditioning to his global competition days before the biggest meet of his life. He might as well tell them his goal times. "I don't know" is a polite way of saying "None of your business/you'll find out how rested I was in August."

I am the best... I do not shave... even my beard for the olympics. I do not like green eggs and ham unless bob bowman tells me i do, yet he does not even tell me if if im resting/taperd simitaperd or simirested for the OTs... so how should i know if i like green eggs and ham.

Michael was just kidding about napping and watching TV. Actually he runs marathons in between workouts. I also heard when the team flies to Singapore Michael is going to join them a couple days late because he want to go climb Mt. Everest first.

Lazy? You have got to be kidding me. Lochte goes out and skateboards and chases his dog, I can tell you that he is the exception. Most elite swimmers rest a lot, because this sport takes a huge toll. I thought the interview was good, he has matured a lot, and he knows whether he was rested or not.

?Will you perhaps finish this interview and what was said about Eric the breast stroker?

umm i think watching tv and taking naps is the favorite activity of almost every swimmer...especially when all you're doing is working ass of in practice

anyone see what he does for fun in the people magazine article?
his favorite activity is to watch tv with his dog and take naps, that just shows how lazy he is

I'm just trying to pshyc out Lochte, I feel hes going to own me..

He said he had no idea prettttttyyy fast when they asked that question about his taper. Pretty sure he knew it was coming and is keeping quiet

I think that swimmers tend to lie about how tapered they actually are to make their successes seem higher and their failures not as low. I have had guys tell me they didn't taper at all and then go on and drop 2-5 seconds in a 200. So if the normal swimmer can lie about it why can't he?

what, no bean question

Seriously, how do you "not know" if you fully tapered for trials???

What phelps say is prob rehearsed but it is to keep the media frenzy minimal if he didnt everything he said would be looked at for a double meaning espically about taper etc

Garrett, you do ask the best/most interesting questions

I think Warkentin's interview was more interesting. But, that was a one-on-one interview, while this one is obviously one where Phelps is interacting with a bunch of different reporters, some of whom are obviously not full-time swim reporters.

I think that makes a difference. His answers are obviously the kind of canned, rehearsed answers that you tend to see from people that have to talk to reporters on a regular basis.

how do you not know if you fully tapered for trials?

It's interesting that when asked if he was fully tapered for OT's he says "I don't know.. you'd have to ask Bob." How can he not know? I mean, being blasé about your sport is one thing. To be totally disconnected to the point where he truly is just a machine doing what Bob Bowman tells him to do is something else entirely. I loved hearing that Katie Hoff does pay attention to splits and competition, etc.. (see Paul Yetter interview), which is what I think a normal swimmer does (to some extent). Michael constantly gives off this vibe of "I am totally out of the loop"ness that doesn't seem like a great thing for the ambassador of our sport.

he ALWAYS plays dumb in his interviews, its pretty frustrating

Did you fully taper for trials? I have no idea. I've heard lochte is the same way. Dumb as a rock and a body for their coach.

"I dont know if I had a full taper"

whatever, he does. He just knows if he says he didn't, then everyone will have high expectations for him. If he says he did, it makes his trials look not as great as everyone expects from a "full phelps taper" or whatever.
He's whipped by Bowman.

not a great idol for the sport of swimming

The way he answers the questions make swimmers seem dumb. I think that Mark Warkentin's interview was 1,000 times better. Not to mention his out of the pool habits.

I thought I was the only who used the work "cashed".

swim coach any particular reason?

He doesn't represent the sport of swimming well.

his last turns are because of my delicate hands

Ya mang, I agree with D-Friz. I think that was a really good question and I'm curious to see how Phelps responds.

Garrett, are you gonna post his response about Shanteau?