Phelps Swims to 7 Golds at World Championships

Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who won 5 gold medals in the most recent summer Olympics, upped the ante at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Going into the competition, Phelps had stated his goal was to win a gold medal in each of the eight events he was planning on entering. He came close. At the conclusion of the World Championships, Phelps had earned himself an astounding seven gold medals, a total only equaled by American swimmer Mark Spitz at the 1972 Berlin summer Olympics.

Phelps was kept from an attempt to better Spitz in the final event of the championship - the 400 meter team medley relay - when a teammate, in a morning qualifying heat, jumped into the water too soon. Because of the disqualification, Phelps, a 21 year-old from Maryland who trains in Michigan, was forced to "settle" for the seven gold medals.

In winning the seven golds, Phelps managed to better the previous world record in five events. Four of those events - the 400 meter individual medley, the 200 meter freestyle, the 200 meter butterfly and the 200 meter individual medley - were individual events. The fifth event - the 800 meter freestyle relay - was a team event. In many of those events, Phelps was breaking a record he already owned.

The biggest shocker of the World Championships came at the end, with the early entry into the pool of American teammate Ian Crocker. Crocker, who is the world record holder in the 100 meter butterfly, entered the pool within .04 seconds of the previous swimmer touching the wall. According to international swimming rules, anything over .03 seconds is considered an infraction.

Although disappointed at not being able to take a run at a potential eighth gold medal, Phelps was gracious in his first public comments about the disqualification. "When Team USA comes into a swim meet, we come as a team and we exit as a team," he said. "There are things that don't happen exactly as we want it to, but it's better to happen now than next year."

Next year is the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, China, where Phelps hopes to win those eight gold medals. At the moment, it would appear he is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field. Since the 2001 World Championships, Phelps has earned a total of 18 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals in either World Championships or Olympics. He is the current record holder in six events. The next summer Olympics will be held from August 8-24, 2008.

Sources:

sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps