The incredible Mr. Phelps

Is there a myLot gold medal we can give him?

yes your right he does. Michael is amazing! he's my icon. man have you seen all the food that guy packs in? and he burns it all off

Pool, heck no, Lake Clear Girl Scout Camp in NY State. Have him swim across and back, the girl scouts do. Also have him take the Life Guard test. See how he does. Take care

Now I'm going to have to watch him carefully as he navigates the puddles in the parking lot, during this rainiest of seasons!

You know, there's always somebody who downplays anyone else's achievements. A couple of Olympics ago, the nephew of one of our teachers was in the archery competition, and he did beautifully -- a silver if I remember correctly. Some of the coaches were teasing about being little Cupid, shooting arrows in the air. There are haters everywhere, and some of them have really big mouths. I'd love to invite the guy who mouthed off so much today to the pool, but we don't have one.

i guess staring at him is not a bed choice~~ haha

Can't help wondering what the rest of us could do if we worked at it as hard as he does!

That would be awesome, my friend. I wonder how he managed to become so talented..

The US is certainly proud of him. The Swimming Hall of Fame is not far from here, and I hope to go to the ceremony when he's inducted into the Hall.

Go, Netty! You have the right idea! Michael Phelps might represent the pinnacle, but all the athletes have given blood, sweat and tears to accomplish their goals, and they do deserve recoognition. In fact, leaders and outstanding achieversin all sorts of areas deserve accolades!

Your reticence is certainly understandable. Academics in the US have many other funding sources to turn to, and the government isn't supposed to back athletes, although I think they probably do. I admire Michael Phelps for his accomplishments -- he really had to put his all into the preparations, etc., but he's not competing with intellectuals or anyone outside of swimming. Frankly, I hope Australia can get its priorities a little straighter. I think they back the athletes because they have so much fan support, and they put the country in the spotlight. But that sould certainly not take the limelight from achievers in any field. As a teacher, and a person with 9 postgraduate degrees, I certainly have the utmost respect for academic people. They should be admired more than athletes, everywhere. Here they are, because people separate such feats so completely. Aussies have excelled in so many ways, surely their intellectual pursuits will catch up!

*particularly*

I probably won't even attempt to swim for quite a while. Compared to those Olympic swimmers, I feel like a somewhat impared whale! It's hard to imagine that kind of dedication to something so hard, that even keeps you from breathing well.

Wouldn't it be great if we were all able to excel to that extent in the area of choice! He's really mastered this sport and earned everyone's respect!

It's sort of obvious he's a football coach. He probaby wouldn't have said anything if we had a swim team!

Those athletes have more than enough to do to compete with each other. Having different sports go head-to-head is just ldicrous! They're amazing, and Michael Phelps is unbelievable, even while we watch him. It's hard to imagine that he does what he does, no matter how carefully we watch all he does!

Absolutely! One of the other athletes said he's finally socializing and the other swimmers like him. He's been so concentrated on his swimming that he didn't even talk to other people until this week! I can't imagine being that dedicated, but I certainly admire it!