Michael Phelps says he's in the midst of a physical and mental rebuilding process but is determined to regain his performance level of the Beijing Games when he comes to Montreal in July. The American swimmer, who turns 26 as he participates in two events at the Canada Cup of swimming on July 2-3, acknowledges he struggled to get motivated after winning gold in all eight races where he competed at the 2008 Olympics.

That's why he took a break before resuming serious training this year. "I needed to step away and take some time for myself," he said. "I was able to do that. It has been a slow process to get back to where I want to be."But Phelps is satisified with the direction he's headed in, saying, "I'm happy, I'm working hard.""I feel there's been a lot of improvement," he said. "I know the goals I have are extremely high and they're going to be extremely hard and difficult to achieve but they're something I want very bad and if I want something bad enough, I'm going to work as hard as I can to get there."

Phelps, who also won six gold and two bronze medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004, is now training at high altitude in Colorado Springs to bring his body to its maximum level of fitness. He said he'll know by the end of the summer what his goals will be for the London Olympics and how he'll prepare for the Summer Games in 2012. Phelps didn't see himself competing in eight events again at the Olympics but he said his regimen this summer will give him a good idea of what his body can handle.

He said he wants he wants to bring his body to a level that allows him to compete in as many events as possible and said that this summer he wants to be able to compete in the preliminaries, the semifinals and in the 100-metre and 200-metre relay. The competition in Montreal, which will serve as preparation for the world championships that will follow from July 16 to July 31 in Shanghai, will be one of the early stages in Phelps' attack plan.

Phelps pointed out that competing in Montreal in 2009 helped him gain confidence to compete at the world championships. Phelps has yet to confirm which events he will enroll in Montreal, but he is likely to contest the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Phelps acknowledged that the comeback of Ian Thorpe is an important motivator for him. The Australian has been a longtime inspiration to him — and rival.

He said he looks forward to facing Thorpe, whom he described as one of the best freestyle swimmers in history, in a duel that will likely happen in January 2012. "I love to see a talented athlete return to competition," he said, adding he'll be interested to see what progress Thorpe makes over the next year.

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The London 2012 Summer Olympics are still over a year away but that doesn't mean some of the biggest stars aren't already chomping at the bits to compete. The biggest star of them all sounds to be ready to roll. American swimmer Michael Phelps holds 14 gold medals in his Olympic career and he isn't finished yet.

Phelps already has his eyes set on the biggest competitor standing in his way—Ian Thorpe. He told The Telegraph that he is looking forward to the chance to compete against the Australian:Thorpe missed the 2008 Olympics and Beijing and has rarely raced since the 2004 Olympics. But he was Phelps main competition in '04 and would likely be the top competitor in 2012. With a year to go...let the Phelps vs. Thorpe hype begin!c

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Fourteen-time Olympic gold medallist, Michael Phelps, once again lost the 200m butterfly at the 2011 North Carolina Charlotte UltraSwim.

This is the second time that the 25-year-old Phelps lost his main event in the last decade. Recently he lost the 200m butterfly event at the 2011 Eric Namesnik Michigan Grand Prix in April 2011. This was the first time that Phelps failed to land on top of the podium in the butterfly event. Phelps finished fourth in the 200m event at Michigan behind Peng Wu, Marcin Cieslak and Scott T Clary, who earned gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. He stunned the swimming world after his sluggish swim and was very upset after the disappointing effort.

Michael claimed that the defeat was necessary and he has learned his lesson from the loss. The 25-year-old Phelps tapered his participation to only three events at the second last stop of the 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. Phelps competed in the 200m back-stroke, 200m butterfly and the 200m freestyle and settled for the gold medal in the back-stroke, silver medal in the butterfly and finished sixth in the 200m freestyle.

Phelps failed to overcome Peng Wu’s 1:56.83 minutes effort that placed him on the top of the podium for the gold medal, where Phelp’s clinched silver medal, clocking a time of 1:58.22 minutes. This was Phelps’s second defeat from Club Wolverine’s Wu, who earned gold medals on two consecutive stops of the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series.

Michael’s deteriorating performance at the last four stops of Grand Prix Series has raised many questions about his performance at the upcoming world events, including the 2011 Shanghai World Championships and the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Phelps grabbed eight gold medals in the 200m Individual Medley (IM), 400m IM, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 4*100m freestyle relay, 4*100m medley relay and the 4*200m freestyle relay. After a hectic schedule in Beijing, Phelps announced that he will never participate in eight events again.

In addition, the American champion announced that he will target seven events at the 2011 World Championships, explaining that his participation in the events will be finalised after his performances at the remaining stops of the USA Grand Prix Series.

Phelps lost the 200m IM and 400m IM from Ryan Lochte at the 2011 Austin Grand Prix. Later on, he earned five gold medals at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in March but failed to overcome Peng’s effort in the 200m event in the last two stops of the Grand Prix.

Recently, Phelps won a gold medal in the 200m back-stroke and defeated the crowd favourite, Lochte. His stupendous swim in the back-stroke event has made him a strong contender for the 200m back-stroke title at the World Championships in Shanghai.

Phelps, who has dropped one event from his Shanghai medal tally, will now have to choose one event the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and the 200m back-stroke. His recent performances have changed the views of swimming commentators but the Olympic champion wants to make a splash in his last swimming events and has claimed that he will retire after his participation in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Phelps expressed his desire to win back the crowd in Shanghai by putting on a worthy show. He also claimed that his participation at the London Olympics will be finalised by his coach after his performance at the 2011 World Championships.

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US Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps beat Ryan Lochte in the 200m backstroke on Sunday to leave the Charlotte UltraSwim long course Grand Prix with one victory.

Phelps, the 14-time Olympic gold medallist, had finished sixth in the 200m free and second in the 200m butterfly this week, but clocked 1min 57.20sec to win the backstroke with Lochte second in 1:58.82.

"I saw a splash out of the corner of my eye and saw the green suit, so I knew it was Ryan," said Phelps. "I ended up with two terrible races and one halfway decent one."

Hungary's Katinka Hosszu won the women's 200m individual medley in 2:12.29, finishing in front of Sweden's Stina Gardell who trains with her with Trojan Aquatics.

"After a week off, we we've working hard, adding more yardage, swimming longer stuff," Hosszu said. " As the World Championships get closer, I wanted to be swimming faster and faster as this meet went on. I felt I was slow on the first day here."

US Olympic veteran Natalie Coughlin won the women's 100m free in 54.19sec ahead of Dana Vollmer and 16-year-old Missy Franklin.

Franklin had opened her evening with a victory in the 200m backstroke and finished the meeting with two victories, two second place finishes and a third to stretch her lead in the Grand Prix series.

Olympic relay gold medallist and local product Ricky Berens won the men's 100m free in 49.46, with fellow North Carolinian Scot Robison was second in 49.90.

Eric Shanteau won the men's 200m individual medley in 1:59.82. Austrian Olympian and Trojan swimmer Markus Rogan was second in 2:00.20, while China’s Wu Peng was third in 2:01.19.

SUNDAY'S RESULTS - MEN

200m Individual Medley
1. Eric Shanteau 1:59.82
2. Markus Rogan (AUT) 2:00.20
3. Wu Peng (CHN) 2:01.19

200m Backstroke
1. Michael Phelps 1:57.20
2. Ryan Lochte 1:58.82
3. Eric Ress 1:59.98

100m Freestyle
1. Ricky Berens 49.46
2. Scott Robison 49.90
3. Davis Tarwater 50.19

1500m Freestyle
1. Ryan Feeley 15:27.04
2. Sean Ryan 15:32.87
3. Joseph Arnold 15:34.77

SUNDAY'S RESULTS - WOMEN

200m Individual Medley
1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 2:12.29
2. Stina Gardell (SWE) 2:14.42
3. Elaine Breeden 2:14.80

200m Backstroke
1. Missy Franklin 2:08.36
2. Elizabeth Pelton 2:09.36
3. Therese Svendsen (SWE) 2:13.27

100m Freestyle
1. Natalie Coughlin 54.19
2. Dana Vollmer 54.30
3. Missy Franklin 54.60

800m Freestyle
1. Chloe Sutton 8:31.20
2. Andreina Pinto (VEN) 8:33.37
3. Camryne Morris 8:39.18

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Michael Phelps has arrived at the Charlotte UltraSwim still stinging from his 200m butterfly defeat in Michigan last month. The 14-time Olympic gold medallist finished fourth in the race in Ann Arbor won by China's Wu Peng, Phelps' first defeat in the event since the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships. "It was obviously frustrating, because (the streak) was something I wanted to keep going my entire career," Phelps said on Thursday. "I've used it as motivation."

Phelps has acknowledged that lackadaisical training had contributed to some sub-par performances since he swept all before him at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The stunning fly finish in Michigan -- where Phelps won three events but was also disappointed in three -- was another wake-up call. "To be honest, it's probably what I needed," Phelps said. "I was playing with fire, and I got burnt pretty hard, and it was a fairly big one.

"It's better that it came at a Grand Prix meet than at a national championship or Olympics."Phelps plans to swim the 200m free, 200m backstroke and 200m fly in Charlotte, where the meeting started Thursday with the men's 800m freestyle won by Sean Ryan and the women's 1500m free won by Chloe Sutton. Cullen Jones started his week with a bang as he won a 50m freestyle swim-off against Josh Schneider to secure the last berth on the US squad for the World Championships in Shanghai in July.

Jones won in 22.24sec, four-hundredths of a second ahead of Schneider in the head-to-head battle. The two had tied for second in the event behind Nathan Adrian at the US championships last August.
While Phelps is swimming a limited schedule, he will get a crack at his longtime US teammate and rival Ryan Lochte in the 200m backstroke. Lochte said he thought Phelps had moved on since Michigan. "It obviously made him upset, and he seems more focused," Lochte said. "That's good for him, but it also helps the other swimmers here. It's good for the sport."

Bob Bowman, the coach who masterminded Phelps' preparation for his unprecedented eight-gold assault in Beijing, said he and his most famous swimmer were still fine-tuning the programme and methods to take him through this summer's world championships and next year's London Olympics.
"We're trying to find the optimum level for him, to put in place certain blocks to build this house," Bowman said. "Leading up to Beijing, any time we had the opportunity to do more, we did it. Not now. The challenge now is more clear. He's much more mature, more experienced, and the focus in training has been different."

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FOR the first time since he announced his comeback to competitive swimming, Ian Thorpe has hinted that, at next year's London Olympics, he could tackle world record-holder Michael Phelps in the event the Australian once owned - the 200 metre freestyle. The 28-year-old, speaking to British media at the launch of a multi-sport outdoor gym designed in Hackney by his sponsor, adidas, did however cast doubts on a clash between the two superstars in Australia early next year.

It had been floated that Phelps was keen to train in the Australian summer, and Swimming Australia would have salivated over the prospect of a race between the pair - most likely at North Sydney Pool in January - but Thorpe all but quashed those chances.

''I won't say no but I doubt that I would do that,'' he said. ''I actually think I'll be training on the other side of the world.''Thorpe and Phelps last met in the event dubbed the Race of the Century, the 200m freestyle final at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Thorpe won, Phelps was third, but since then the American has taken the race way beyond where Thorpe left it, even before the arrival of the now-banned, controversial polyurethane swimsuits.

Thorpe has not declared which events he will focus on for the Olympic trials next March, but for the first time he spoke about the prospect of racing Phelps in the 200m in London. ''It's a little bit early to say it is or it isn't going to happen,'' he said of a rematch. ''I have to qualify in the 200m … which I should be able to do. Michael has to swim it as well at the Olympics.

''I understand how people can get excited and there is a possibility now that it might happen in London … [but] the result could be different. It may not be me swimming in it, it may not be Michael. If you look at the 200m and how people are swimming around the world, Michael and I might be too slow. It may happen. It's something that I know the media would love. They will put us as rivals where we are staring each other out in photos, but Michael and I will have a laugh about it because we're friends. I don't specifically think about beating him or anyone else.''

Thorpe has been training in Switzerland under Gennadi Touretski and admitted he has at times struggled. ''At the moment I'm not very close to being where I was before,'' he said. ''I'm on track with the level that I thought I would be when we set out the time-frames when I came back but London is getting very close now.

''Training hasn't been easy. If it was then everyone would do it. On the whole I'm enjoying it but there are days when it's a struggle. It's really hard to do the training, especially if I'm down and I'm not swimming as well as I'd like. ''The most frustrating part is not being able to do something that you really want to do and remembering how you are supposed to do it.

''[I'm] faster than last week. I can't give a percentage, it's hard to do, and I won't tell times. But I'm getting better. I'm reminded more frequently that I can do this pretty well. I've got to be ready by the end of March 2012, just before our trials, and to be able to prepare again to be able to swim faster than that at the Olympics.''

Thorpe said since returning to the pool in September last year, when he would secretly put in private training sessions at pools around Sydney so as to not raise suspicion of a comeback, he has redeveloped a love for the sport. ''This is how I used to feel about swimming when I was a lot younger,'' he said. ''In the spotlight, I lost a bit of what swimming was. The context changed, it wasn't just about what I did in the pool, it was more about what else was going on outside of the pool and I didn't like that.''Asked if he could continue beyond the London Olympics, Thorpe said: ''I haven't made a decision yet, but at the moment, I think I will.''Thorpe is due to return to Australia next week.

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Forbes released its list of The 10 Most Influential Athletes this week, and you may be surprised to see who's holding down spot No. 5, ahead of such names as Peyton Manning and LeBron James. (Well, you might be surprised if we hadn't just spoiled it for you in the headline above.)

In any case, representing Olympia on the list (and the only member of the top-10 who's not a NASCAR driver, NFL player or NBA player) is Mr. Phelps, whose presence at spot No. 5 probably has something to do with the fact that he has 14 Olympic gold medals. (It may not hurt that he's fairly adept at staying in the news as well.)

In any case, here's a look at the list of Forbes' 10 Most Influential Athletes, which may just be the only instance in his 25 years on the planet in which Phelps can say "Take that, Polamalu!" and potentially get away with it:

Forbes' 10 Most Influential Athletes

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Tom Brady

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

4. Shaquille O'Neal

5. Michael Phelps

6. Troy Polamalu

7. Peyton Manning

8. Jeff Gordon

9. LeBron James

10. Tim Tebow

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He wore a damp towel draped around his shoulders and a scowl that Michael Phelps wasn’t intending on losing anytime soon.

In what was clearly not his best racing weekend, the 14-time Olympic gold medalist left Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor today with a lengthy to-do list that includes, among other things, addressing some smack.

You heard it right. After finishing second in his last two event finals at the Namesnik Grand Prix – the 200-meter individual medley, and 100 freestyle – Phelps said during his post-meet news conference that he’s heard some unflattering comments recently that he’s none too pleased about.

“There’s been a couple of comments, here and there, that have kind of set a little fire underneath me, so that’s good – that’s what I need,” Phelps said.

Asked what sort of things he’s heard, the swimmer wasn’t specific, saying: “Whether it’s things that I overhear, or, ‘he said, she said,’ or comments that were directly said to me, they’re going to be used in way. . . They’re going to fire me up.”

Heading into the Grand Prix, Phelps, 25, was no different than all the other elite swimmers who weren't rested because they’re training for big events later this summer, such as the world championships. He won three of his six events over the weekend (the 200 free, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke), but suffered a huge loss Saturday night when he was upset in the 200 fly for the first time since 2002.

The 200 fly is his trademark event; Phelps was fourth. He swam the closing 50 meters in 31.25 seconds.

When Phelps’ longtime coach, Bob Bowman, was asked later about the kind of “talk” that had irked his swimmer, Bowman said: “I think people are kind of talking about his retirement; maybe he’s going to retire early, maybe he’s just a has-been kind of thing. I think that’s what he’s talking about.”

For the record, Phelps isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon; he has committed to competing in his fourth Olympics in 2012 in London.

Bowman said he expects his swimmer to use his performance over the weekend as a motivator in training. Phelps next competes May 12-15 in Charlotte, N.C.

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Thorpe and Phelps, who have 19 Olympic gold medals between them, last raced in 2004 in what was described as "the race of the century", the 200m freestyle final in Athens, won by the Australian.

Despite Thorpe's return to the sport this year, his plan to focus on the 100m freestyle could prevent the sport's two biggest names from racing each other at next year's London Olympics. Phelps's coach, Bob Bowman, revealed yesterday that the 100m freestyle was off the American superstar's agenda for the London Olympics because it clashed with his signature event, the 200m butterfly.

So unless Thorpe has a change of heart and returns to the 200m freestyle, potential Olympic contests between the two would be restricted to relays, where they might not race each other directly.However, Bowman confirmed that the Phelps camp was interested in doing a warm-weather training camp in Australia in January to get away from the Baltimore winter in the lead-up to the London Olympics, and they were intrigued by the possibility of racing Thorpe in the historic North Sydney pool as part of the Summer Series event.

"I think it would be so much fun. I hope they do it," said Bowman, who has guided Phelps throughout his career.  "We haven't committed to anything yet (and neither has Thorpe) but it fits perfectly into our schedule. I want to do a camp somewhere warm at that time of year and it would be good for Michael to swim in Australia one more time before he finishes (at the London Olympics) because it's such an important swimming country. "I think Michael's thrilled that Ian is back because he views it as a chance to really put more of a spotlight on swimming.

"One of his big goals is to lift the profile of the sport and having Ian back can only help that."An Olympic showdown between the two great champions would become an instant blockbuster. But Bowman said Phelps would not compromise his chances of winning a third consecutive 200m butterfly title to chase the 100m freestyle.

However, he does not rule out Thorpe returning to the 200m freestyle and believes the Australian is perfectly situated, training with coach Gennadi Touretski in Switzerland.

"I don't see how Ian could do better," Bowman said. "I think that Gennadi's style will be good for him. "He's very creative and Ian will really like the thought process that he puts into the training."Touretski is renowned as one of the sport's foremost thinkers and Bowman confesses he has taken an idea or two from the Russian master.

Phelps has had a well-documented struggle with motivation since his eight-gold triumph in Beijing, but Bowman said the approach of next year's Olympics had shaken him out of his lethargy and he was now "progressing nicely" on the road to the world titles in Shanghai in July.

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Michael Phelps Interviews: The road ahead: Fourteen-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps is gearing up for the World Championships in Shanghai in July, obviously an important meet in and of itself and also a critical gauge of his form on the way to what would be his fourth Summer Games next year. He'll race in two more Grand Prix events in the United States this spring -- Charlotte later this month, and Santa Clara, Calif., in mid-June -- with a block of altitude training in between, and compete in a meet in Montreal as final preparation for worlds.

Phelps recently told The Associated Press he tentatively plans to race in four individual events and three relays in China. With his competitive schedule ramping up, Phelps squeezed in time to promote his new video game, "Push the Limit" (scheduled for release next month), and do photo shoots for sponsors in his hometown of Baltimore last week. Having gone full-throttle on dry land since 6 a.m. that morning, he admitted he was in need of a nap when he sat down with ESPN.com's Bonnie D. Ford but perked up at questions on how his season has gone so far.

The following are excerpts from that conversation: Question from Ford: I know you want to compete well everywhere you go, but really, bottom line, does anything count this year besides worlds?

Answer from Phelps: I think there are some little points along the way that I want to hit before worlds, just so I know that I'm making the right step in the right direction leading up to worlds, because I know that the better worlds is, the better [Olympic] trials are and hopefully the Olympics. This is a big summer and I'm going to try to put everything into worlds that I can.

Q: Those are familiar mountains to climb. Having been through that process many times, is there anything different about it this time, particularly mentally, being more mature?

A: The only thing that needs to happen now is to make sure the training is there and I should be able to be fine. If it's not there, that's where the problem lies. I just have to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be, and make sure I can look back at the last couple of years and say that I did everything that I could.

Q: Aside from the training, which is hard enough, your life's not your own when you're doing this. I noticed last weekend you were in Vegas to do an event [The Encore Beach Club season opening] and, of course, the tabloids are saying you're surrounded by "busty blondes" and this and that.

A: And my girlfriend was standing right next to me.

Q: It's difficult to be under that microscope all the time. Do you ever allow yourself a moment of frustration with that?

A: I've lived in this spotlight for 10 years. I try to be myself and do what makes me happy.

Q: There's never a flash of, "Why the hell am I putting myself through this again?"

A: If I didn't want to put myself through it, I wouldn't do it. That's why it took so long for me to really decide I wanted to come back. I was the only one who could essentially make that decision, and I wanted to make sure it was still there and I was ready to go for 3½-4 years. I was able to find goals and things I still wanted to accomplish, and that's why I came back after Beijing.

Q: I read your comments after the 200 fly in Ann Arbor [Phelps lost the event last month for the first time since 2002, finishing fourth in a race won by China's Wu Peng at the Namesnik Grand Prix] about it being a wake-up call, which is what I would expect somebody in your position to say. Now that it's had time to sink in, are you still as fired up about it? Is that always going to be a special race amongst races for you?

A: I think so, and you know, it is disappointing, [the winning streak] was something I wanted to keep throughout my career. But I can't look back at the past. What happened, happened. I have to put that race behind me and do everything I can so that it doesn't happen again. It's completely frustrating. I'm very disappointed not to be able to keep that for another 15 months. But it actually was a good wake-up call for me, because it clearly shows I haven't done enough 200-butterfly training recently. It's something I need to go back to.

Q: Is there any special motivation to go out and get back the world record for the 200 free, since the suit controversy was involved? [Germany's Paul Biedermann set the record of 1:42, carving .96 off Phelps' old mark, in July 2009 wearing a since-banned polyurethane suit.]

A: There's a motivation to get every one that is my best time. That's what you shoot for as a swimmer. You don't want to do all this training and not improve. At the end of each year, the little tiny improvements are what you're looking for, making small improvements to get close to my best time, or [set] my best time. Without the [banned] suits, it will be harder; you will have to be in better shape, you will have to be stronger, you will have to be able to get through the water cleaner. It is going to be a lot more challenging. The people who want it bad enough are the people who are going to be able to do that.

Q: So you think that particular time is attainable?

A: Anything is possible. I've said that throughout my whole career and I'll say it for the rest of my life. If you want something bad enough and you put your mind to it, there's nothing your body and your mind can't achieve.

Q: You've taken very little time off in your career. Ian Thorpe is now attempting to come back after having been out of the pool for many years. Can you imagine doing that?

A: He really hasn't competed since 2004. That's a long time. I barely got back into it after taking six months off after Beijing. Seven years would be ... I don't even want to think how painful that is. You put your body through something for so long, and then you take an extended period of time off, and then you have to come back and recover and go through all the training. It's tough. I'm glad to have him back in the sport. He's a tremendous competitor. When I heard he was coming back, I said if he really, truly wants to do it, he will do it and he'll make sure he's at the top. That's the way he is.

Q: He's someone who drives a lot of interest in his country [Australia]. You're someone who drives a lot of interest here and all over the world. I've read a lot of stories in the past six months saying that you bear this burden of the popularity of the sport. Is that the way you see it? Do you feel it?

A: I'm just doing something I love, something I enjoy, and I'm doing it because I want to. I don't look at it as pressure. I do what I want to do, I have a goal, I go out and achieve it, I move on to the next one.

Q: But you've said many times that you want to take swimming to a new level. You see the big picture. You're not just seeing the black line every day.

A: No, I mean, I see everything, but for me to be able to get to the big picture, I have to stare at the black line every day. I have to make sure that I'm at the top of my game and doing everything the right way, how I think it should be done.

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