Individual Events

LONG BEACH, Calif. - At 6:01 Pacific Time last evening, the public address announcer at the U.S. Olympic team trials for swimming directed the attention of 9,817 to the awards ceremony for the men's 200-meter backstroke, which was won in world-record time by Aaron Peirsol. "For obvious reasons," the voice on the speakers said, "Michael will not be participating." Michael Phelps, the runner-up, had not left the arena; he was just in the practice pool. Having staked down an Athens Olympic berth in a fourth individual event, Phelps was about to grab another spot that provided yet two more historical twists to a groundbreaking career.

John Naber will warm up the crowd and interview out-of-breath winners at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. He expects to spend considerable time with Michael Phelps. "Everyone is missing the point," Naber said. "Seven gold medals would be great, but what's amazing is the chance that Michael could swim five individual events at the Olympics. That's what we should be playing up." Naber is among the men who have a firsthand understanding of the fuss over Phelps and his run at Olympic history, the seven gold medals won by Mark Spitz in 1972.

AUSTIN, Texas - Michael Phelps has been anointed as the athlete to watch at the 2004 Olympics. NBC hopes that his quest to win seven gold medals in Greece will pump up its ratings. Corporate entities from Speedo to AT&T Wireless have signed him to endorsement deals. Anyone interested in swimming or the Olympics wants a piece of Phelps, but that phrase carries a different context for Ian Crocker and Aaron Peirsol. They could be Phelps' best buddies on a relay team - and his biggest enemies in individual events.

It's a strong possibility that the Olympic program for Michael Phelps will differ from the one he tackles at the U.S. trials. Aside from the construction quagmire facing Athens, the biggest guessing game regarding the 2004 Olympics centers on the 18-year-old from Rodgers Forge. Phelps is favored to win three individual events at the Olympics, and he would be a factor in three others. Not even the most versatile swimmer in history would tackle six individual events at the Olympics, but Phelps could do just that at the U.S. trials.

ORLANDO, Fla. - When the media play 20 questions with Michael Phelps, he knows what to expect. What does the world's hottest swimmer, 18 and still growing, have for breakfast to quell his ravenous appetite? How does he feel about his quest to match Mark Spitz's Olympic heroics of 1972, the possibility that Phelps could become only the second athlete to win seven gold medals in a single games? The third recurring question is the one he's not ready to answer: Might he attempt to one-up Spitz and go for gold in not just four, but five individual events?

FAIR HILL - The U.S. equestrian team won the team and individual gold medals in the Pan American Eventing Championship yesterday at the 2003 Fair Hill International Festival in the Country. The United States finished the three phases of dressage, cross country and show jumping with a score of 190.0 penalties to successfully defend the team gold it won at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Canada finished second with 325.0 penalties, and Brazil took the bronze with a score of 1,394.

BARCELONA, Spain - When the Olympics were held here in 1992, swimming was shunted to an outdoor venue and basketball was one of the events held at the Palau Sant Jordi. That was the Olympics of the original Dream Team, as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird expanded the profile of the NBA. Its successors have been weaker imitators, but at least the arena has been graced by a new Dream Team. Its roster lists one name. Michael Phelps completed a remarkable world championship swim meet last night that served as his international coming-out party and a warning that he is ready to win four of the 13 individual events on the Olympic men's program in 2004.

BARCELONA, Spain - The record book remains open, but the case is closed. Michael Phelps is only halfway through his four individual events at the 10th FINA World Championships, and he has already resolved the issue of who is the best swimmer on the planet. He didn't just vanquish Australian Ian Thorpe last night at the Palau Sant Jordi; he accomplished a feat no man had mastered in the history of the sport, setting world records in different individual events on the same day. Within 48 minutes, Phelps destroyed a minutes-old standard in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly, then battered his own world record en route to gold in the 200 individual medley.

INDIANAPOLIS - At 2:50 p.m. yesterday, the hardest-working man in the swim business was doing laps in the diving pool at the IUPUI Natatorium. Was Michael Phelps cooling down or warming up? "Yes," answered Bob Bowman, his coach, so imagine the trouble the swim world has grasping the comings and goings of Phelps, the 17-year-old from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club who continues to turn his sport upside down. Bowman spoke in the middle of a 40-minute span in which Phelps lowered his world record in the 400-meter individual medley and came within .03 of a second of the 100 butterfly standard.

Hammond senior ShadM-i Smith knows there's a target on her burgundy jersey. Winning two events at last spring's Class 2A state championships has a tendency of attracting attention. "I'm sort of the bull's-eye," said Smith, who won the 100- and 200-meter dashes last year. "I know I'm the one to beat. So it makes me work twice as hard to keep the titles." Smith is one of three returning local athletes who won multiple individual events - all at last spring's Class 2A state championship meet.