USA: SWIMMING - Olympic champion Michael Phelps trains for the upcoming World Championships and the Beijing Olympic Games

Olympic gold medallist and world record-holding swimmer Michael Phelps of the United States is already plunging into intense training in preparation for the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Phelps gave the press a glimpse of his aquatic skills in New York on Thursday (October 12) while on a photo shoot for his sponsor, taking to the water performing a routine of exercises and warm-ups. The 21-year-old swimmer made himself a household name in the U.S., and a champion of the sport, at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. Aged just 19, he won six gold and two bronze medals, taking all four individual medley and butterfly titles as well as two relay golds. He finished third in the 200 freestyle behind his great Australian rival Ian Thorpe and Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband and was third again in the 4x100 freestyle relay won by South Africa. Phelps's eight medals tied him with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's 1980 record for the most medals at one Games. Phelps has also broken 13 world records in his short career but is already now looking towards achieving further goals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. "It takes four years to really properly train for an Olympics, so we're already in training, already starting, already looking forward to it," he said. "We're getting excited. The rest of the world is starting to swim faster and faster, and I think us as Americans have something to prove, so I think with the rest of the world swimming fast, it gets us excited and motivated to step up and make sure when the Olympics rolls around, we're doing best times, and hopefully breaking a world record or winning a gold medal." Phelps next major target will be the 2007 World Championships to be held March 25 - April 1, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia. His rigorous practice schedule is designed to keep him in good physical form, and Phelps admitted that at the moment, he has no real physical obstacles to overcome - just keeping everything in check and tuned up. "It's always up and down at the beginning of the year, but I think once we get into a rhythm and a groove, I think it's pretty much easy from there," he said. "The training group that I have, it's a one of a kind training group, so once we all get in a rhythm, it's sort of easy sailing, so we just have to get in that rhythm and once we do, I think we'll be successful." But Phelps doesn't let all the gold medals and world records go to his head; he said his biggest competitor is himself. "Whenever I get into the water, I always want to do a best time, no matter what," he said. "If it's possible, if it's not, that's always a goal of mine. I always have very high goals and very high expectations for myself, so if I get in the water and don't break a record, it leaves me that much more hungry for next time I race." In addition to the World Championships, Phelps and the U.S. National Team will compete in the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 16 - 21, 2007.

ITN Source | October 14, 2006

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