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 On Wednesday, the 28-year-old fronted a packed media conference
on the eve of his eagerly-awaited comeback at a U.S. swimming Grand
Prix meet in Mesa, Arizona.
He arrived unshaven, a little plumper than normal and with no
swimsuit sponsor, and with the news that he had already pulled out
of Thursday's 100 meters freestyle heats to concentrate on the 100m
butterfly and Friday's 50m freestyle.
"I haven't signed any contracts, no one's making me do this. I'm
doing this because I want to," he explained.
"I'm loving just being back in the water and in a group. I'm even
more relaxed than I ever was before. I'm smiling a lot, I'm happier,
I'm joking a lot.
"I really am the grandfather of your group now. I'm the old man."
But for a man who had spent his life demolishing records and setting
the gold standard for Olympic success, it is a routine few are
buying.
Phelps did not reach Olympic immortality through a devil-may-care
approach to his sport.
Under the surface, he is the fiercest competitor swimming has ever
seen. In a sport where medals are decided by tiny fractions, he has
an insatiable quest to always get his hand on the wall first.
THE JOURNEY
Phelps already knew that after winning eight gold medals in Beijing
the only forward for him was down, so he began the process in
London, which he vowed would be his swansong.
He cut back to seven events, winning four golds, and plans to trim
that back even further in the future, though neither he nor his
long-time coach Bob Bowman would elaborate on which events he would
stick with.
"I always have goals and things that I want to achieve and I have
things that I want to achieve now," he said. "Bob and I can do
anything that we put our minds to.
"That's what we've done in the past so I'm looking forward to
wherever this road takes me and I guess the journey will start
tomorrow."
While Phelps evaded questions about his chances of winning more gold
in Rio, he did break away from his mantra that he is just doing it
all for fun.
Rio is still more than two years ago but the timing of his return to
competition this week is the first real clue that he has his heart
set on adding to his golden stockpile in Brazil.
Even below his best, Phelps would be a strong contender to add to
his tally just on the strength of the U.S. relay teams. He has swum
in each of the three relay events at the past three Olympics,
collecting seven golds from the team races.
The key lead-up event before Rio is next year's world championships
in Russia, where Phelps would be able to measure his progress
against his main rivals for Rio and decide his Olympic program.
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But the selection process to make the U.S. team for the world
championships is more complicated than usual and will start at this
year's national titles in August, which will double as the trials
for the Pan Pacific championships in Australia.
The performances of swimmers at that meet will then largely
determine who gets picked for the world championships.
And despite everything he has achieved, Phelps has yet to qualify
for the U.S. nationals because he has not swum in the official
qualifying period, which commenced after he retired.
"I obviously knew that if I really wanted to compete at a really
high level, then I have to do it this summer," he said.
"HAVING FUN"
Rumors of a comeback began to gather steam last year when Phelps
re-registered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a mandatory
requirement before he could race again.
He began training under Bowman at their base in North Baltimore,
initially just to get back into shape after piling on almost 40
pounds (18 kilograms), then more seriously in preparation to race
again.
"My highest point was probably 225 (pounds). I raced at 187 in
London, so the weight came on pretty quick," Phelps said.
"Last week I was about 194. I've lost a lot of weight and get in
decent shape. We've been able to get some good work done in the
pool."
The history of sport is full of failed comebacks but Phelps, who
will be 31 by the time Rio rolls around, said he was unfazed by what
people think about his return if he failed to live up to his
previous standards.
"I'm doing this for me. If I don't become as successful as you all
think I would be or should be, and you think this tarnishes my
career, then that's your own opinion," he said.
"I'm doing this because I want to come back and I enjoy being in the
pool and I enjoy the sport of swimming. I'm just having fun."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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