GOLD MEDAL MEL

In Michael Phelps' Shadow

At the Foro Itlalico pool, Tyler McGill trudged down the long blue carpet runway toward the horde of media. 

“I didn’t see Phelps,” McGill started before the first question was fired. 

There was an awkward pause. No one watched McGill’s one hundred butterfly final. All eyes were transfixed on the epic battle between Cavic and Phelps.

McGill shifted his weight from one foot to the other,  “It was an honor to be in the butterfly final that broke the 50 second barrier.” McGill shook his head as if there was nothing left to say. “Phelps is great.”

McGill, the other American in the race, went a 51.42, and has hovered in 51.0 range since U.S. World Trails.

I used to swim. I won an Olympic gold medal in the butterfly.  I know: McGill is great.

“He’s understands the situation,” a reporter from a major publication shrugged. “We’re here for Phelps. NBC is only here because of Phelps.”   

I nodded, “It’s the Michael Phelps show,” agreeing, but I felt slightly awkward saying it.  I felt uneasy.

Inside the tight clique of the swimming community, we’re all incredibly thankful for Phelps.  Whether you’re a world class  swimmer on the cusp of medal contention, a governing body striving to increase registration, or swimwear manufacturer fighting for market share, you can’t deny the “Phelps Effect”. Mr. Swimming has been a boon for business.  Inside the swimming clique we’re giddy.  But tension is tempering our hopes for the future.  We’re in a race against time to elevate the sport’s visibility beyond our one truly global star.  

Phelps plans to compete until the 2012 Olympics.  

We can all hear the clock ticking.

While the white-hot spotlight has been on Phelps, a few stars have peeked outside his shadow: Aaron Peirsol, Natalie Coughlin, and Ryan Lochte, to name a few.  With 24 Olympic medals between them and London on their schedule, we have the firepower to grow the sport, and, perhaps, make it more mainstream.

We have one other star in the mix, one that has arguably gotten as much media attention as Phelps, though it has become taboo to talk favorable about this “star” during the World Championships: the hi-tech polyurethane swimsuits.

On the eve of World Championships, FINA banned them from competition in 2010.

Of course the hi-tech suits are responsible for the endless world records, and endless media about the records, and endless marketing by the swimwear manufacturers.

Phelps is fine with the ban.  “I’m ready to get back to swimming,” he said in ast race press conference.  “The sport’s not about swimming anymore.”

Most swimwear manufactures aren’t necessarily on the same page.  Quietly, out of the spotlight, they’ve been grumbling.  Most want the hi-tech suits and their high price-point that drives revenue.

I’ve heard their grumblings and they worry me.  It’s clear swimwear contracts will be cut or significantly reduced for athletes just out of the medal-hunt.  Athletes depend on these sponsorship dollars to live and pay for training expenses.

Phelps won’t feel that pain, nor will most major stars within the community, but Tyler McGill will be graduating from college next year, as will David Walters and Ricky Berens, and others like them.  They are our new stars, and I worry for these athletes. Will the fallout of the 2010 FINA ban on hi-tech suits result in little or no swimwear endorsement dollars for them? 

ROME Showdown: Michael Phelps v Milorad Cavic

Milorad Cavic had a lot more to say in our interview. He covered the gamut, 

from the FINA suit fiasco to athletes doping. (I'll post the additional video later.)

Cavic became famous in the spring of 2008 (before he ever faced-off with Phelps), when he won the 50 meter butterfly in world record time (23.11) at the European Championships, then proceeded to accept his gold medal wearing a T-shirt that read "Kosovo is Serbia" during the awards ceremony. Cavic was promptly excused from the rest of competition, creating a huge question mark regarding his speed in the 100 butterfly. Many felt he was on track to go 50 seconds in the 100 fly, which he achieved later at the Olympic Games in Beijing when he nearly halted Phelps' record setting 8-gold medal haul. 

Cavic is a proud Serbian, as well as a Cal Berkley graduate. His nationalistic bent is deep and nuanced, something that doesn't always come across in video "sound bites". 

Here's CNN's coverage of the European Championship story, which adds a little more background: 

 

Back in the late spring of 2008, I carried my bias about Cavic with me, not following the story closely enough. Sadly, the sound bites made up all I really knew about him.  Aside from that I didn't think Cavic had a shot at a gold medal in Beijing at the Olympics.  

Interestingly, I did interview Cavic at a USA Swimming Grand Prix Series competition in Omaha a mere 3 weeks from US Olympic Trials. Cavic was low-key and eloquent, but he stated flatly that he would challenge Phelps in Beijing, that he would be in contention for gold.  I thought, Brash dude! Good luck with that!  But I immediately liked him.  I like, or more accurately, I love any athlete who has an undying belief in him or herself.  That breed tends to pull-off the impossible. 

At the World Championships in Rome, the Cavic v Phelps match is the most anticipated race. Adding to the drama will be the FINA Suit Fiasco.  Phelps will be wearing the LZR Racer, which only has panels of non-permeable fabric (material, many believe, creates floatation, resulting in faster swims).   Cavic, now an Arena sponsored athlete, will most likely be in an Arena X-Glide, which is made-up of 99% non-permeable fabric. (Arena engineered several tiny holes in the X-Glide model after it didn't make the infamous FINA approved list in May.) 

Cavic spoke to me at length about the "FINA Suit Wars" issue.  He feels the suits nearly make this World Championships a "joke". He added that athletes didn't have a voice in FINA's decision making process. His frustration could be felt an ocean away over the telephone interview.

At the end of the day, whoever takes the 100 butterfly crown in Rome will be make history.  Additionally, Cavic's fame will increase.  He became a darling of the highbrow sports writers in Beijing last summer. They all commented on his intelligence and grace after his "fingernail" loss to Phelps. 

Michael Phelps is Mr. Swimming.  He has kicked the door open, media-wise. Swimming matters on the global stage.  Few athletes have even attempted to follow Phelps through that door.  Cavic is one of them. (At Worlds I'll be on the lookout for others with the same potential...) 

For the straight stuff on Milorad Cavic, go to his blog here.

Michael Phelps v Milorad Cavic

Below, a commercial for the 2009 FINA World Championships:

Phelps is THE STAR, and yes, Alain Bernard is a star in his own right, but the real showdown at the World Championships in Rome will be Phelps v Cavic. 

Globally,  non-swimming fans know Phelps, they know that there is a swimsuit controversy (though they don't understand it), and they know that a guy from Serbia almost halted Phelps historic 8 medal haul at the Olympics in Beijing.

The Serbian's name: Milorad Cavic.  

The race: 100 meter Butterfly.

In Beijing it was Phelps' 7th of 8 races, his 7th Olympic gold medal, tying him with Mark Spitz's performance in 1972. Phelps won by a fingernail with a karate chop, half stroke at the wall. Many believed, and still do, that Cavic actually touched the wall first, but that Phelps hit the electronic touch-pad harder, netting him the win.  

There will be many great match-ups in Rome. Most fans are eagerly awaiting the men's 4x100 free relay, anticipating a French payback after Jason Lezak's stunning defeat of Alain Bernard on the anchor leg of that Olympic race. But the teeth have been taken out of that fight. Lezak has opted-out of World Champs to compete at the Maccabiah Games in July.

The 100 meter fly is it, especially after Phelps' performance in Montreal less than 3 weeks ago, where he missed the 100 fly world record by less than 8 one-hundredths of a second.  

For "suit wars" watchers: 

Phelps should wear the Speedo LZR, despite rumors that Speedo will let him wear another of the new hi-tech brands.

Cavic should wear the Arena X-glide.

Here's Cavic in an interview I did with him right after Olympic 100 butterfly final:  

And here's my latest GOLD MEDAL MINUTE with Peter Carlisle (managing director of Olympic and action sports at Octagon), Michael Phelps' sports agent:

 Heading to US Nationals next week, aka the World Championship Select Meet. Look for my coverage, the inside stuff, on GMM.

Pellegrini Breaks 400m Free World Record

4:00.41.... She's dipping under the 4 minute limit at Worlds.

Ous Mellouli, Olympic 1500m Free gold medalist, went a 3:42.71 in the men's 400s Free at the same meet. 

For more details go see SWM.

FINA: Suit Wars

FINA, swimming's international governing body, is waffling, drifting along, making one mistake after the next. The swimming world's terribly upset, but, in truth, we've never had so much rich entertainment.

'09 World Championships in Rome will be one week-long drama. The old guard traditionalist will moan each technology-aided world record, while the swimwear companies rush to further brand themselves. 

Seen Britta Steffen's new World Record in the women's 100 meter free? She popped a 52.85 in an Adidas Hydro-foil. Check her out. At the end she barely looked out of breath.