Re: Phelps at World Cup

Phelps was clearly upset after the race that he'd missed getting the world
record. So he hadn't decided to go easy on the breaststroke in order to see
how his other strokes could do - he was going as fast as he could..

"Totalswimm" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Truthfully, he has little to fear in the IM...he's taken the WRs to such
a
> >high
> >level that he can afford to focus more on challenging the Aussies in
middle
> >distance free;  plus get his 100 fly record back from Crocker.
>
> I have a feeling that with his personal appetite for excellence, he's as
much
> driven by wanting to improve on his personal best times. And since the
200IM WR
> is also his personal best time, he'll remain highly motivated to improve
it and
> everything.
>
> What we ought to consider re that Melbourne 200 IM is that even great
swimmers
> have moments of seeming inconsistency that may be simply that, or may even
> reflect intent.
>
> Resourceful swimmers who need to seek challenges may sometimes
intentionally
> "underswim" a portion of a race in order to force themselves to swim
better in
> another portion, or for an opportunity to practice a particular strategy.
It's
> swimmers like Phelps who have that luxury.
>
> They don't -- nor can they -- aim to swim at their absolute best in every
race.
> So it's best not to try to micro-analyze performance.