Phelps makes history
OMAHA, Neb. — Michael Phelps held five fingers high after his hand hit the wall, a sure sign he realized he’d done something much larger than win another race.
With his victory in the 200-meter butterfly on Wednesday evening, Phelps became the first American male swimmer to qualify for five Olympics. But the moment felt heavier than that even. He thought he never wanted to swim again in 2012 and in the four years since, he had plunged into an emotional abyss, been arrested, learned volumes about himself in therapy, found love and become a dad.
All of it seemed to wash over him as he processed the swim that guaranteed him a place in Rio de Janeiro.
“I think that means the most to me,” he said in the moments after the race, pausing as tears welled in his eyes. “With everything that’s happened to me, sort of being able to come back, that was probably harder than any swim I’ve had in my life. . Just being able to finish my career how I want to is so important to me.”
Less than an hour later, handed his eight-week-old son Boomer, who was sound asleep, his first post-victory stuffed animal — a shark.
Phelps had celebrated as his protege, Chase Kalisz, seized an Olympic spot, and he had watched as other stars of his generation faltered. But finally it was his turn to heft his old mantle as the most indomitable champion the sport has ever seen.
He was not at his best but still held off Tom Shields by almost a second. Shields shook his head when asked what it would take to beat Phelps.
“I’m still trying to figure out how so I can have that stop happening,” he said, echoing the lament of so many world-class swimmers who’ve gone head to head with Phelps.
In the other showcase race of the night, Katie Ledecky continued laying waste to her competition with an easy win in the women’s 200-meter freestyle. Allison Schmitt, Phelps’ close friend and training partner, finished third.
Schmitt won gold in the 200 free at the 2012 Olympics, and the race represented her best chance to make this year’s team in an individual event. She will still go to Rio as a member of the women’s 4x200 relay team, a significant triumph considering she nearly quit the sport two years ago when depression sapped her motivation.
She was overcome with emotion after the race. “It’s been a tough four years, but I’m so excited,” she said. “Oh gosh, I don’t remember the last time I had happy tears. It’s not exactly the race I wanted, but I can’t complain. . I honestly didn’t think that I would be standing here at Olympic Trials again.”
Bob Bowman, who has coached Schmitt and Phelps through all their ups and downs, said he cried at both of their medal ceremonies, a first for him.
Schmitt regained much of her form over the last 18 months, but she could not swim quite as fast as she did at her peak, and that’s what she would have needed to stay with Ledecky, who beat Missy Franklin by more than a second.
The 19-year-old Bethesda native first established her dominance at longer distances, but she’s now nearly as formidable at 200 meters, with the 100-meter sprint her next horizon to conquer. She’s approaching the kind of multi-event dominance that only Phelps and a few others have achieved.
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