July 24, 2008
Sun coverage: Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Photo gallery: Images of Michael Phelps during his career.
Competitive drive fuels Phelps, Hoff
For local Olympic swimmers, heartfelt hopes become big realities
Phelps, Hoff up to the challenge
Rivals no match for the local swimmers at U.S. Olympic trials
Rick Maese: Spitz sees Phelps within striking distance
And now the race is on. They've leapt from the starting blocks. In one lane, expectations. In another, hope. And in a third, speculation.
Phelps in a world of his own
Rodgers Forge swimmer nips Lochte, sets mark in 200-meter individual medley
Rick Maese: Olympics will shine Phelps-like spotlight on Hoff
In the universe of hypotheticals, the most popular impossibility buzzing around the pool is this:
U.S. Olympic Trials
Few are multitasking at U.S. Olympic trials
Phelps, Hoff in multiple events, but not many follow their example
On Sons And Superstitions
Rick Maese: Lucky seat 13 for Phelps' mother
Some think it's all that training and dedication, a life spent in the swimming pool and an adolescence timed with a stopwatch. Others think it's inexplicable genes, his flexibility, a long, lean body and limbs that never seem to end. And still others point to the fancy swimsuit, designed with the aid of NASA technology and capable of keeping even John Daly afloat.
Hoff races to finish; Phelps wins 200M butterfly
In the eyes of the world, Katie Hoff has always been a great swimmer. That was obvious, even when she was 14 years old.
U.S. Olympic Trials
Phelps free and easy
Shortly after Michael Phelps finished the 200-meter freestyle last night, Mark Schubert, the venerable coach of the U.S. swim team, walked down onto the pool deck inside Qwest Center and threw an arm around the Rodgers Forge native.
Opening record for Phelps
Throughout Michael Phelps' amazing swimming career, only a handful of men have had the courage, the conditioning and the competitive moxie to race him in the 400-meter individual medley and match him stroke for stroke.
A sea change for swimming
As a young man, Michael Phelps dreamed of the day he would, in his words, change the sport of swimming in America.
Olympic Trials
A freestyle attitude for Phelps at trials
Michael Phelps isn't shy about how much he loves to play poker. He plays it with friends, plays it in casinos with strangers, and sometimes plays it online, late at night.
Phelps, Hoff have busy trials schedules
In the competitive run-up to the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials, Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff carried a heavy workload.
Phelps' game plan simplifies winning
Before his second race of the day, the 100-meter backstroke, Michael Phelps got succinct advice from his coach: Be first.
Swimming
Phelps, Hoff warm up for trials
The pieces of Katie Hoff's aquatic Chinese puzzle are beginning to come together. One stroke strengthens another. Distances seem to shrink. A skill honed gets her closer to her goal: the starting blocks in Beijing.
Hoff, Phelps aim to relax
With about three weeks to go before the competition to determine the U.S. Olympic swimming team, elite athletes like Katie Hoff and Michael Phelps don't have to turn heads at the final Grand Prix meet this weekend.
Sports Digest: Phelps tops Peirsol in 100 back, caps big meet
Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge ended his drought against Aaron Peirsol and is ready to start turning his attention toward the U.S. Olympic trials.
Swimming
Phelps returns to attend NBAC fundraiser
Michael Phelps showed up at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center last night and climbed into the pool.
Beijing Olympics: 100 Days To Go
No excuses as Phelps prepares for Beijing
In one corner of the Donald B. Canham Natatorium, a massive brick building on the University of Michigan campus that houses a 50-meter pool, there is a tiny clock with glowing red numbers.
Bowman coming back - so is Phelps
Michael Phelps has always said he'd be willing to follow his coach, Bob Bowman, just about anywhere. After the Beijing Olympics, it looks as if Phelps will be following him right back to Baltimore.
Swimming
FINA reaffirms its approval of controversial Speedo suit
The great swimsuit competition pitting Speedo against other high-end manufacturers is over.
Swimming: Toyota Grand Prix
Hoff wins 2 more in prep for Olympic trials
In the span of 42 minutes last night, Towson's Katie Hoff won two gold medals and a silver at the Toyota Grand Prix competition.
Phelps wins 400 IM at Ohio State Grand Prix
When Katie Hoff finished the 400-meter individual medley last night, everyone assumed she just had set a U.S. Open record. It was announced over the public address system at the Ohio State Grand Prix, the crowd roared, and a representative from USA Swimming tried to congratulate her.
Ohio State Grand Prix
Phelps 1-for-3, Hoff wins 2; both shrug
Michael Phelps likes wearing his Detroit Tigers hat sideways, and sometimes backward.
Swimsuit Saga
Speedo's strong suit
With most of the nation's best swimmers scheduled to compete at the Toyota Grand Prix here this weekend, record-breaking performances might take a back seat to the swimsuit competition.
Phelps troubled by 400 IM
Michael Phelps didn't sleep well this past week at the Missouri Grand Prix. And he couldn't figure out why.
Missouri Grand Prix
Hoff makes her mark
Katie Hoff took two more gold medals yesterday at the Missouri Grand Prix and $20 from Michael Phelps.
Laura Vozzella: Maybe it's for the XXX Games
Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff aren't just showing off their swimming in Missouri. They're showing off their new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits. And that means they're showing off their birthday suits, too.
No pain is gain for Phelps
Michael Phelps climbed out of the pool yesterday after swimming the 200-meter butterfly and waggled his right wrist. As he looked over his split times with Jon Urbanchek, one of his coaches at Club Wolverine, Phelps smiled, then shrugged.
Missouri Grand Prix Meet
A matter of time
Michael Phelps readily concedes that he's not much of a morning person.
Swimming Missouri Grand Prix
Setting a course for Beijing
A year ago, swimmer Michael Phelps showed up in Columbia, Mo., for the Missouri Grand Prix with low expectations. He did not have history on his mind.
On swimmer Philip Scholz
Rick Maese: Loyola athlete charting course for Paralympics
There's just something about the water in Baltimore. Maybe you knew that already, but it's worth repeating. The water here, it enables you to do almost anything. Michael Phelps sprang from these waters. Katie Hoff, too. But the swimming story I hope we'll all be able to appreciate this summer is Philip Scholz's quest to represent the United States in the Paralympics.
Phelps goes 2-for-3, with improved times
Michael Phelps went 2-for-3 in consecutive events at the Southern California Grand Prix last night, swimming faster times in each than he did a year ago.
Phelps shy of record in 400 IM victory
Michael Phelps cruised to an 8.68-second victory in the 400-yard individual medley at the Southern California Grand Prix meet last night, flirting with his American record before falling off the pace.
Swimming
Phelps wins twice at Grand Prix
Michael Phelps opened the Olympic year with two victories at the Southern California Grand Prix, swimming his best times in the 100- and 500-yard freestyles last night.
Swimming
Phelps first in 100 free
Michael Phelps won the 100-yard freestyle for his second individual victory at the U.S. short-course national championships.
Swimming
Lochte tops Phelps in IM
Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps by 1.24 seconds with an American-record time in the latest renewal of their rivalry on the opening night of the U.S. short-course national championships yesterday.
Swimming
Phelps returns to racing today
Michael Phelps will hit the water today at the U.S. short-course national championships, testing his surgically repaired right wrist for the first time in competition since he hurt himself getting into a car in October.
Swimming
Phelps, Hoff honored as best U.S. swimmers
Michael Phelps won a leading three Golden Goggles awards, including Male Athlete of the Year, on Sunday night when USA Swimming honored the year's top American performers.
For Phelps, it may be all in wrist
The half-inch purple scar on Michael Phelps' right wrist is almost unnoticeable. The swelling already has gone down, and, in time, it will be but a memory. The jagged purple line will fade to pink and the bone beneath it will become whole.
Phelps confirms right wrist is broken
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, by his own admission, has never been particularly graceful when walking on dry land. In the water, there is no one faster or sleeker. But on solid ground, he's a self-described klutz.
Special Olympics
World Games Wetzler's pinnacle
The walls at Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Mount Washington are adorned with poster-sized portraits of past and future champions who cut their competitive teeth there. But while the record-breaking performances of world-class athletes such as Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff garner most of the swimming facility's attention, another Meadowbrook member recently enjoyed his moment in the spotlight.
Phelps withdraws from international meet
Michael Phelps, who won seven gold medals at this year's world swimming championships, will not take part in an upcoming international swim meet in Japan.
Phelps, other swimmers find new suit up to speed
Last July, at a small swimming meet in Athens, Ga., Michael Phelps stood on the starting blocks wearing a plain, black swimsuit. No logo, no frills and nothing that would raise an eyebrow - at least, until he hit the water.
Phelps, Hoff awash in gold
Baltimore's best swimmers traveled to the Midwest and spurred high hopes for what they might accomplish a year from now in the Far East.
Phelps powers to two more victories
How do you motivate an athlete who really doesn't have enough storage space for more medals, and whose swimming resume already requires a library chock-full of three-ring binders?
Rick Maese: Maese: Phelps ready to dive right in
Under his skull-tight swim cap, you can't really tell much about Michael Phelps' training. But under his Detroit Tigers ball cap, you can see his hair sprouting out like a well-watered houseplant. It's a subtle thing, but it tells us where Phelps is in his preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
Phelps golden again at U.S. nationals
The third day of the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships was marked by a pair of exciting rivalry races -- one marred by a bad start, and the other capped by an exciting finish.
Swimming
Phelps just misses record
Still a year away from the Summer Olympics, coaches, commentators and swimming enthusiasts are already running out of adjectives to describe what Michael Phelps is capable of in the pool. You have to dig deep to capture his latest feat - nearly breaking the world record in an event that wasn't even part of his last Olympic program.
No gold, no worry for Hoff, Phelps
For a pair of the nation's top swimmers, the chlorine that was in the air in the Indiana University Natatorium proved to be much thicker than any competitive tensions.
Swimming
Phelps looks to heat up Nationals
In Australia this year at the FINA World Championships, swimmer Michael Phelps proved that, when it comes to his best events, he's racing against only himself and history.
Phelps adds three more wins
Michael Phelps won three more races and set two more meet records as the Santa Clara Grand Prix ended last night.
After five titles, Phelps comes up short in 1,500
Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps lost for the first time in six individual finals at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix, finishing second to Club Wolverine teammate Erik Vendt in the 1,500-meter freestyle yesterday.
Sports Digest: Sports Digest
Phelps: Beijing's Olympic swimming venue an inspiration
Michael Phelps said he and U.S. swim teammate Katie Hoff left inspired after a visit to the futuristic "Water Cube" swimming venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
None better
Perhaps it shouldn't surprise anyone that Tiger Woods and Roger Federer have started hanging out together.
Rick Maese: Sport still not making a splash
As Tiger Woods embarked on winning a fifth green jacket at this year's Masters, he took a moment to reflect on another athlete, someone nearly 10,000 miles away whose athletic uniform wouldn't come close to satisfying the dress code at Augusta National.
His head's way above water
Gracious athletes, even the great ones, always say that world records are meant to be broken.
Phelps like fish out of water when it comes to tennis
Is it coincidence that the FINA World Swimming Championships are taking place in a temporary pool inside Rod Laver Arena this week? After all, with sportswriters struggling to come up with ways to put Michael Phelps' performance - five gold medals and four world records through the first five days - into context, the most obvious comparison is to the play of the man who competed in this very building only two months ago, but with a racket in his hand: Roger Federer.
U.S. stars to let it fly
Ian Crocker, the world-record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, doesn't mind being the roadblock standing in the way of swimming history.
Towson High proud to have its own star in Phelps
At Towson High, they've raised the question.
Phelps is unstoppable
This is how well things are going for Michael Phelps at the FINA World Championships: He broke his third world record in three days yesterday, and he did it nearly blind.
Another day, another world record for Phelps
This is how well things are going for Michael Phelps at the FINA World Championships: He broke a world record this morning, his third in three days, blind.
Simply smashing
After Michael Phelps' record-breaking work in Melbourne, Australia - improving his world standard in the 200-meter butterfly by 1.62 seconds - here's a look at some other precedent-smashing performances.
A giant step
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA The question, in all honesty, needs both distance and time to accurately be answered. But after Michael Phelps' jaw-dropping world-record swim yesterday in the final of the 200-meter freestyle, it's worth asking once again.
Phelps, Hoff off to fast starts
Michael Phelps toughest opponent today wasn't another swimmer. It also wasn't history. It was boredom.
Phelps' ambition at worlds: 8 golds in 8 days
His road, or better yet, his swimming lane to Beijing winds through, of all things, a famous tennis facility, Rod Laver Arena.
The Flip Side
Watered down? Not this swimming event
So how much better would swimming be if Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe could have kicked at each other beneath the surface while racing?
Swimming
American team awaits worlds
On a cool, windy morning, a mustachioed Michael Phelps and his American teammates churned practice laps in a pool near a stadium where workers were busy setting up for an Australian Rules football exhibition yesterday.
Laura Vozzella: It's a free press when you own it
From the pecan cabinetry to the flagstone patio, no detail about the Roland Park charmer featured in The Examiner's real estate section goes unnoticed, but for this: The guy trying to sell the place, Examiner Publisher Michael Phelps.
Swimming
Phelps finishes meet with 100-meter wins
Michael Phelps capped a dominating three days at the Missouri Grand Prix last night with victories in the 100-meter butterfly and the 100 backstroke, and Katie Hoff added two victories.
Right strokes give Phelps 2 more wins
Michael Phelps dominated the Missouri Grand Prix again last night, winning a pair of races in the final major competition before next month's world championships in Australia.
Phelps breaks 200 fly record
More than a month before the world championships in Melbourne, Australia, Michael Phelps last night sent notice that he's still the guy to beat in the 200-meter butterfly.
Swimming
Phelps tops Peirsol
Michael Phelps went 1-for-3 in his coach's grand experiment of taking on world-record holders in the 100-yard butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke last night in the Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming in Long Beach, Calif.
Swimming
Phelps goes 1-for-2 in California
Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge won his 400-yard individual medley specialty but lost to Brendan Hansen in the 200 breaststroke, and Natalie Coughlin lowered her 4-year-old American record in the 200 freestyle at the Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming last night.
Phelps captures 100-, 500-yard freestyles in Calif.
Michael Phelps won his first two races of the year, easily taking the 100- and 500-yard freestyles in the Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming last night in Long Beach, Calif.
Rick Maese: Swimming feels ripples of Phelps' dominance
As he does just about every Sunday, Michael Phelps will wake up this morning and slip on his Ravens jersey. A replica of Ed Reed's No. 20 bookends Phelps' trim frame. Then he'll hit the streets of Ann Arbor, Mich., searching for a television that's broadcasting today's game from Kansas City.
Swimming
Phelps gets 2 more wins at U.S. Open
Two-time Olympian Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge won two events yesterday at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships, giving him six gold medals during the three-day meet at Purdue's Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind.
Two records later, Phelps 're-excited'
Look out, Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband. Michael Phelps can't wait to race you at next year's world championships.
Pan Pacific Championships
Phelps breaks record in 200 IM
Fueled by a big defeat to teammate Aaron Peirsol a night earlier, Michael Phelps responded with a world-record win for his fifth gold medal at the Pan Pacific Championships last night.
Peirsol tops Phelps, sets record
Aaron Peirsol defeated Michael Phelps by 2.37 seconds and set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke at the Pan Pacific Championships last night.
Phelps, Hoff double up
VICTORIA, British Columbia // Michael Phelps won his second individual gold medal of the Pan Pacific Championships last night, then returned as leadoff swimmer on the United States' victorious 800-meter freestyle relay.
Phelps breaks 200 fly mark
Michael Phelps set a world record for the first time since 2004 last night, lowering his mark in the 200-meter butterfly at the Pan Pacific Championships.
Phelps explores at Pan Pacific
While Ian Thorpe remains off the international stage,