Cowherd: Phelps-Lochte rivalry adds to swimming drama

Great rivalries are the zesty spice of sports.

Arnold Palmer had Jack Nicklaus. Muhammad Ali had Joe Frazier. Magic Johnson had Larry Bird. Bjorn Borg had those twin head cases, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Chris Evert had Martina Navratilova.

We couldn't get enough of those matchups. It was must-see TV every time they squared off.

There are still some great rivalries out there, although not as many as before. Tiger Woods has Phil Mickelson — well, whenever both are playing well at the same time, which happens almost never.

Sidney Crosby has Alex Ovechkin. Roger Federer has Rafael Nadal. And speaking of head cases, NASCAR version, Kurt Busch has Jimmie Johnson.

Now Michael Phelpshas Ryan Lochte. And that's enough to get a total non-fan like me watching the Olympic qualifying trials in Omaha, Neb., where Phelps and Lochte are battling it out to see who the top swimmer is going into next month's London Games.

What don't I like about swimming? Hard to pinpoint, exactly.

To me, watching eight guys in Speedos swim back and forth can get old real fast, whether it's at the gym or the community pool or the Olympics.

But watching Lochte emerge as a worthy rival to Phelps after playing Robin to Phelps' Batman for years has been great stuff.

"I honestly think we could change the sport," Lochte told reporters the other day. "There is no doubt in my mind, in the Olympics, it'll be the biggest talk, me against Michael."

It's definitely been the talk of Omaha's CenturyLink Center, where the crowds — and even the other swimmers — are amped to see Phelps and Lochte duel one another.

Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time and the pride of Baltimore, finished 0.02 second behind Lochte on Tuesday in their semifinal heat in the 200-meter freestyle. But he came back strong in the final on Wednesday night to win with a time of 1.45.70 to best Lochte by 0.05 second.

In the grueling race Phelps says he hates more than chlorine burn, the 400 individual medley, Lochte was the winner Monday night. But now the two will face off again Saturday in their own personal rubber match, the 200 individual medley.

What makes the rivalry compelling now is that the great Michael Phelps actually looks beatable at times. Even with his 14 Olympic gold medals. Even after winning a record eight at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

And sensing a beatable Phelps must make Lochte's heart sing.

Sure, Lochte has had a great career, too, winning three golds and six medals in all. But he's never beaten Phelps at the Olympics. In fact, he finished third in two of their races in Beijing.

But Lochte says this is his time to shine now.

He seems genuinely tired of playing second fiddle — even to a swimming legend. He's waxed Phelps in a few races since Beijing. And his confidence level has never been higher.

"I've been training so long for this moment," Lochte told reporters. "it just felt like it took forever."

Not that Phelps is not exactly shying away from the challenge.

"This is something new, being able to have a rivalry of, I don't want to say 'Clash of the Titans,'" he said, while making it clear it was definitely swimming's version of that.

If you want to quibble about the potential greatness of the Phelps-Lochte rivalry, the only thing it's missing is a villain.

I say that because both swimmers are generally thought of as good guys. Both are humble winners. Both are gracious in defeat.

There's no low-rent Tonya Harding here to play off the classy Nancy Kerrigan. Neither Phelps or Lochte seems the type to hire some thug to whack the other guy across the knee so he can't swim in London.

There's no Roberto Duran playing the savage bad guy as he did when he climbed in the ring against Sugar Ray Leonard in the "No Mas" fight.

Instead, both Phelps and Lochte go out of their way to compliment each other, engaging in a kind of gooey mutual admiration society that only figures to get worse in London.

But even if they're not scowling and barking at each other, this is a rivalry that can only help swimming, which is all but forgotten until the Olympics near.

Great duels between Phelps and Lochte put the spotlight on the sport and help attract casual fans, which can lead to tremendous growth.

That's what happened in boxing when Ali and Frazier staged their epic battles. It's what happened in tennis, when the Borgs and McEnroes and Connors slugged it out with racquets as small as fly-swatters.

It's what practically saved the NBA, the great duels between Magic's "Showtime"L.A. Lakers and Bird's Boston Celtics.

Maybe Phelps vs. Lochte is exactly the shot in the arm swimming needs.

It seems to be working so far.

[e-mail]

twitter.com/kevincowherdsun

Listen to Kevin Cowherd at 7:20 a.m. Tuesdays on 105.7 The Fan's "The Norris and Davis Show."