Michael Phelps sizes up international competition ahead of Olympics

MESA, Ariz. – There is no greater student of the sport of swimming than the greatest of all swimmers, Michael Phelps.

So rest assured, he’s been watching the world as several of the top swimming nations recently staged their Olympic qualifying meets. It’s time to start figuring out where Phelps and the other Americans stand as they head toward the Olympic trials in Omaha in June.

“That’s something I’ve always paid attention to my whole career,” Phelps said here Wednesday, a day before he will compete in the Mesa Arena Pro swim meet as the last competitive tune-up before Omaha. “It gives us an idea where the rest of the world is, and where we need to be to be in the mix.”

Right now, not a single American male is No. 1 in the world in any of the 13 individual events that will be contested in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. Of course, none of the top Americans have competed on full rest yet in 2016, so that assuredly will change after the U.S. trials. For now, though, at least the Yanks can start to see who the prime competition will be.

The country getting the most attention is the Americans’ perennial prime competitor, Australia. The Aussies just completed their trials and there were some spectacular swims – Australians currently are No. 1 in the world in 50-, 100- and 400-meter freestyles, and the 100 and 200 backstrokes.

“Those guys are tough,” Phelps said. “They have so many younger guys coming up; that’s really exciting to me.”

The top Aussie freestyler is 21-year-old Cameron McEvoy, who last week threw down the fastest 100-meter freestyle time since 2009 – when the superfast body suits were still legal. McEvoy’s time of 47.04 seconds was termed “insane” by Phelps, with good reason: It is No. 1 in the world in 2016 by nearly a full second. McEvoy performed the first sweep in Australian championship history of the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles.

“He’s a little dude,” Phelps noted. “He can haul.”

The Aussie youth movement – which includes hulking 17-year-old Kyle Chalmers – bumped former national star James Magnussen off the team in individual events. He will only participate in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the relays.

Another country on Phelps’ radar is Japan, which continues its surge as a swimming power. Japanese swimmers currently are No. 1 in the world in four events – with three of those spots held by 21-year-old Kosuke Hagino, in the 200 freestyle (1:45.50), 200 IM (1:55.05) and 400 IM (4:08.90). Hagino burst onto the world scene at the 2012 Olympics by shockingly knocking Phelps off the podium in the 400 IM.

If both swim to their top form, Phelps and Hagino could be going head-to-head for gold in Rio in the 200 IM.

The Aussies, Japanese and several other countries – France, Russia, Britain and Brazil – also figure to pose severe challenges to the American men in relay events. The U.S. has traditionally dominated relays internationally, but the men had an embarrassing performance at the world championships last year.

The Americans failed to even make the eight-team final in the 400 freestyle relay and also were beaten in the 800. The only male relay victory at Worlds was in the 400 medley.

Of course, Phelps was left home from the world championships as part of his discipline following a DUI arrest in 2014. Not having an 18-time Olympic gold medalist made a major difference in the quality of the U.S. relays.

Instead, he competed at the U.S. national championships in San Antonio and loudly announced that his comeback bid after retirement was not just on schedule, but perhaps even ahead. Phelps referred to his performance in San Antonio as “that little surprise.” The result was world-best 2015 times in the 200 IM (1:54.75), the 100 butterfly (50.45) and the 200 fly (1:52.94).

Phelps hasn’t swam that fast yet in 2016 – but he hasn’t needed to, either. Not yet. That time will come this summer. For now, he seems to be right on schedule heading into a meet where he will swim the 200 free Thursday, 200 fly Friday and 200 IM Saturday.

Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, is also the U.S. Olympic men’s coach. The two of them have been comparing notes on the international competition, but are confident of what the U.S. will bring to the table in the coming months.

“If definitely makes you a little more excited about what’s going on,” Bowman said. “But we’ve tended to be ready when the time comes.”