Debbie Phelps: Michael will hang up his goggles

LONDON – Michael Phelps’s last individual swim of his incomparable career was fittingly golden. Phelps rallied from seventh in the final 50 meters to win the 100 butterfly in a time of 51.21 seconds.

In the process, Phelps further put his Olympics body of work out of reach for those who will follow him. It was his record 21st Olympic medal, his record 17th gold medal, and his third straight gold in the 100 fly. On Thursday night in the 200 individual medley, Phelps became the first swimmer ever to win the same individual event in three consecutive Olympic Games. Now he has a double three-peat.

But as usual in this event, it didn’t come easy. Phelps beat South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin by 0.23 seconds, with those two tying for second.

"I don't even want to complain about going slower [than in the semifinals] or having a bad turn or bad finish," said

Read More »from Michael Phelps gives his individual career a proper sendoff with gold in the 100 butterfly

(Getty Images)LONDON – They meet again.

Michael Phelps swims the last individual event of his incomparable career Friday night. Among those he will face in the 100-meter butterfly is the man who dared to try and draw a mustache on Phelps' Mona Lisa performance in Beijing, Milorad Cavic.

You remember that race. Phelps, going for the seventh of his record eight gold medals, desperately churning from behind. Cavic, having brazenly stared down Phelps before the start, tenaciously holding on to what looked like one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.

Only it wasn't. The scoreboard told a truth that the naked eye could not discern: In the final stroke of the race, Phelps somehow hit the wall first (or hardest) to beat Cavic by a single one-hundredth of a second.

If Phelps' great eight golds was the finest achievement in Olympic history, this was the most memorable of those races.

[ Related: Ian Thorpe's bizarre retirement advice for Phelps ]

Hoping for a second act that comes close

Read More »from Phelps beat Cavic in the 'touch seen 'round the world' and they go at it again Friday

Gold medallist Michael Phelps and silver medallist Ryan Lochte (Getty Images)LONDON – Michael Phelps stood behind the podium and leaned against the wall at the end of the Aquatics Centre, a faraway look in his eyes. He was about to receive his 20th Olympic medal of his career after winning the 200-meter individual medley in smashing fashion.

Inquiring media minds wanted to know what he was thinking. Was he reviewing the arc of his incomparable career? Relishing his revenge upon friendly rival Ryan Lochte after losing to him in the 400 IM five days earlier? Contemplating the meaning of life?

Turns out the thought process was much more practical than ethereal. Here's what was on Michael Phelps' mind: "This 100 is going to hurt."

As soon as he got his gold medal, listened to the "Star-Spangled Banner," and completed his victory lap with fellow medalists Lochte (silver) and Laszlo Cseh (bronze), he had more work to do. He shucked off his team sweatsuit and hustled away for the 100 butterfly semifinals.

"I was in a lot of pain," Phelps said. "My legs

Read More »from Fresh Take: Phelps and Lochte have less than perfect Games, but take their place in history

(Getty)LONDON – Don't be surprised if female viewership of the Olympics spikes Thursday night.

Why? Because Ryan Lochte will be the main attraction. He's swimming a demanding double – the 200-meter backstroke and the 200 individual medley – and could win a pair of gold medals.

With Lochte earning that much airtime, admiring eyeballs will follow. To some he's a stud swimmer; he's won nine Olympic medals already. But to others, he's simply a stud.

A female colleague of mine described him as, "A truckload of eye candy." A female friend texted during the Olympic Trials in June, jokingly seeking his phone number. Twitter overflows with Lochte love (or lust) every time he swims.

[ Photos: Ryan Lochte making waves in London pool ]

Madison Avenue has noticed. Lochte is not hurting for endorsements, including heavy-rotation TV commercials during the Olympics for AT&T and Gillette. They both feature plenty of close-ups of Lochte, plus footage of him in his swim suit. As an added bonus for

Read More »from 'Eye candy' Ryan Lochte becomes a treat for female Olympic viewers

LONDON – John Leonard is not backing down in his doping crusade.

Ye Shiwen has won two gold medals so far in the 2012 Olympic Games. (AFP)The executive director of the American Swim Coaches Association , credentialed as a technical adviser through FINA – the governing body of all international swimming, including the 2012 Olympic Games – sparked a firestorm earlier this week. Leonard declared doubts about the world record 400-meter individual medley swim by Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen. Leonard, an American, basically said the gold-medal swim had all the earmarks of a drug-enhanced performance.

Leonard called Ye's performance "disturbing," and took particular aim at her incredible closing freestyle leg of 58.68 seconds, which he labeled "impossible." Since then he has been buffeted for what some sectors of the international swimming community consider an unfair attack on Ye's credibility.

But Leonard is not going to be muzzled, and he explained why in an interview Wednesday at the Aquatics Centre with Yahoo! Sports.

"If people don't speak out when they

Read More »from Head of U.S. swimming coaches' organization steps up Chinese doping allegations

LONDON – Let's hear it for the laugher.

Allison Schmitt is a walking spit take. Ask her about family dinners as the middle child of five growing up in Canton, Mich., and she'll tell you about milk coming out her nose because she's guffawing uncontrollably at her siblings. Ask her about anything, actually, and giggles are sure to follow.

"When I hear someone laugh, I automatically start laughing," Schmitt said. "I literally laugh at everything."

[Photo: U.S. win women's 200m freestyle gold]

Given the stakes and the pressure, Olympic swimming normally is no laughing matter. But Schmitt keeps chuckling her way around the pool deck after medal ceremonies with yet another hunk of hardware around her neck.

In a swim meet that was supposed to be the Ryan Lochte-Michael Phelps-Missy Franklin variety show, Allison Schmitt has done her best to steal the spotlight – and to turn this production into a comedy, naturally.

Wednesday night she got serious long enough to turn in a

Read More »from Allison Schmitt steals the spotlight and laughs her way to becoming U.S. swimming's breakout star

LONDON – Michael Phelps was smiling underwater at one point Tuesday night, tearing up on the medals stand at another, staring in shock at the scoreboard at a third.

The riot of emotions along the way to making history was enough to leave even the greatest of Olympians limp. No wonder Phelps said this milestone evening would end with him taking an ice bath and "trying to pass out."

In the space of an hour at the Aquatics Centre, Phelps swam two races with dramatically different outcomes. He was stunned at the finish of his signature event, the 200-meter butterfly, out-touched by yet another 20-year-old upstart in a London Games full of them. Then he was handed a massive lead in the 4x200 freestyle relay and brought it home with the class of a champion for his first gold medal of these Olympics – something we didn't think would take until his fourth swim here to accomplish.

[Related: Full video coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games]

Nineteen times now, Michael Phelps has

Read More »from Michael Phelps emerges alone atop podium as history's most decorated Olympian

LONDON – Michael Phelps is a mortal lock to make history Tuesday night. He'd prefer it to be golden history.

Phelps is one medal behind Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina for the most in Olympic annals – she won 18, he has 17. He will swim his signature event, the 200-meter butterfly, then follow that up with a leg on the United States' 4x200 freestyle relay. Latynina is expected to be in attendance at the Aquatics Centre on Tuesday to pass the torch.

It would be a bigger shock than finding ice-cold beer in Britain for Phelps to miss the medal podium in either event. But you know he doesn't want to back-door into the record book with anything other than a pair of golds.

[ Related: Youth is served so far at the Aquatics Centre as vets struggle ]

And judging from his blistering leg in the 4x100 free relay Sunday night, that can definitely happen. By all indications Phelps has indeed put his puzzling, fourth-place finish in the 400 individual medley behind him.

After the relay

Read More »from Expect Michael Phelps to make his mark on history in golden fashion