Michael Phelps says he needed a 'wake-up call'

Michael Phelps will leave the World Cup short course event in Stockholm without a win in five events. In his final race, the 200 metres medley, the American finished second and said he had been given a 'wake-up call'. "I knew that it wasn't going to be the best meet," he said. "I wasn't going to be the happiest camper, but it is every now and then we need a little wake-up call." The 24-year-old continued: "I'm swimming ok for not really racing and not really training consistently, but I don't want to swim just ok I want to swim better than ok. There will have to be changes if I want to do better than that." The Stockholm meeting is the first short course event since 2006 for Phelps, who won eight Olympic golds last year and five titles at the world championships in Rome in July and August. He made it into only one of three finals on Tuesday, finishing third in the 100 metres medley.

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ITN | November 12, 2009

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