Forgot your password? Forgot your username?
Member Area
You are here:
Phelps eager to get back in the pool
Written by staff   
Friday, 23 January 2009 06:00

Michael Phelps returned to training this week, five months after his record-setting performance at the Beijing Olympics.

He didn't expect it to hurt so much.

"I'm in a world of pain right now," Phelps said on Thursday during a teleconference to mark yet another award: His selection by the U.S. Olympic Committee as its sportsman of the year for 2008. "It's all over my body. I'm almost in a state of shock. Literally every part of my body is hurting."

Phelps resumed formal training on Tuesday with longtime coach Bob Bowman. The swimmer spent a little over an hour in the weight room, a session that included sit-ups and other abdominal exercises. He also worked about an hour in the pool, trying to recapture the form that carried him to eight gold medals in China.

It's not going to be easy to come back from the longest break of his career, a time spent having fun, moving back to his hometown of Baltimore and cashing in on his iconic performance, including a new book.

Still, he's eager to get started on what will be the farewell run of a brilliant career, building up to his final performance at the 2012 London Games.

"I feel like I have some normality back to my life," Phelps said. "I can get to sleep earlier. I have no problem falling asleep now. I was completely worn out my first day back. After two hours or so of working out, I was absolutely dead. I had no problems falling asleep at 10 or 10:30 that night. It feels good to add some scheduling back to my life. The more I start getting back into it, the better I'm going to feel."

Phelps hasn't decided which events he'll swim as part of his latest program, but he's definitely planning to lighten the load after swimming eight events at each of the last two Olympics. He won six gold and two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Games, then won all eight of those events in Beijing to break one of sport's most treasured records — Mark Spitz's seven golds at Munich in 1972.

"I'll never swim eight events at a major competition again," Phelps vowed. "I'm almost positive that my last eight-event meet was Beijing."

For his first competition since the Olympics, Phelps is pointing toward a Grand Prix meet that begins on March 4 in Austin, Texas. He plans to compete at this summer's world championships in Rome.
 
Related Articles
WebPhilippine Sports

Sport Page

Motor Sports

More from this Section

Sports

Professional Sports

Who's Online

We have 12 guests online