Is Michael Phelps...

[sammyunltd]

Is Phelps the greatest swimmer of all time?

Or, rather, is he second to Thorpe and Popov? Did his (Phelps's) performance change your mind about his standing?

 

[jpeyton]

Thorpe, Popov and Spitz didn't have the LZR Racer.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Thorpe, Popov and Spitz didn't have the LZR Racer.

What difference does that make? All the other racers have them, too, so it's irrelevent.

Except for the world records, it's relevant there, but as far as how much better Phelps is than his competition, it's a level playing field. No different than any other era.

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Thorpe, Popov and Spitz didn't have the LZR Racer.

What difference does that make? All the other racers have them, too, so it's irrelevent.

Except for the world records, it's relevant there, but as far as how much better Phelps is than his competition, it's a level playing field. No different than any other era.

The question was "all-time", not "of this era".

 

[sammyunltd]

But, again, how would Phelps fare against Thorpe. They are from the same era.

Thorpe, when he retired, 2 years ago, was dubbed as the greatest ever by most.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: chuckywang

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Thorpe, Popov and Spitz didn't have the LZR Racer.

What difference does that make? All the other racers have them, too, so it's irrelevent.

Except for the world records, it's relevant there, but as far as how much better Phelps is than his competition, it's a level playing field. No different than any other era.

The question was "all-time", not "of this era".

Still irrelevant to me.

Phelps beat everyone in his era. The other dudes beat everyone in theirs. The swimming suit made no difference here.


If you want to compare and try to see which of these guys would beat each other, that's really not possible...BUT:

You can look at Mark Spitz and just know that if you transported him from 1972 to now, gave him a new suit and let him race Phelps, he'd get crushed. Training is just totally different now, and the guys are in much better shape.

Now, give Spitz a year or so to train with today's methods, and who knows?

But as he was, I don't think he'd have a chance, just like the 1972 Dolphins would get absolutely mauled by any of today's NFL teams.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: sammyunltd
But, again, how would Phelps fare against Thorpe. They are from the same era.

Thorpe, when he retired, 2 years ago, was dubbed as the greatest ever by most.

Only in freestyle, though. I don't think he ever did much in anything else.

 

[dsity]

would phelps be faster in the nude?

 

[sammyunltd]

So what do you think when people like Spitz, fellow swimmers, etc. are saying things like he's the best racer/best swimmer/best olympian and one of the best athletes ever?

 

[BeauJangles]

I don't think there's much of a question that Phelps is the greatest swimmer in Olympic history.

 

[olds]

:music:
Somebody has a man crush...

 

[vudood]

Phelps didn't wear the LZR racer suit for every race

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: vudood
Phelps didn't wear the LZR racer suit for every race

pretty sure he did but not the full suit. Certain ones he went with the pants only because he said the full suit restricted his arm motion.

 

[oddyager]

Anyone else catch that flat ass comment made by the analysts? :laugh: They remarked how flat it was and it helped him swim that much faster because, you know, less junk in the trunk means less resistance.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: dsity
would phelps be faster in the nude?

my guess would be no

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: loki8481

Originally posted by: dsity
would phelps be faster in the nude?

my guess would be no

Dong drag is a bitch

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: BeauJangles
I don't think there's much of a question that Phelps is the greatest swimmer in Olympic history.

this

 

[Scarpozzi]

The pool is 3 meters deep...which helps reduce drag. I think Barcelona and Athens also had 3m pools...but before that, some were 2.5m.

 

[Kaido]

12,000 calories a day can't be wrong!

 

[MisterJackson]

Greatest of all time is a matter of opinion....not fact.

Is Phelps great....sure he is. Greatest of all time? I think most right now would agree yes, but of course there are always a few who'll say no.

Does it matter what people think? Not really.

Greatest "of all time" is always subject to change. Back when Spitz did his thing (and did it with a head full of "70's hair" and no swim cap) I'm sure no one really thought anyone'd top him, just as we don't see the next guy 20 years away sure to spank Phelp's record(s).

Either way, I have MUCH more respect for a sport that I didn't really care for a few weeks ago.

The boy, scratch that, the man did his country proud!

Congrats Phelps. (no man crush, just respect)

 

[sciencewhiz]

Thorpe won 5 golds (3 individual) in 2 olympics, 9 metals total. Popov won 4 golds (4 individual) in 3 olympics, 9 metals total. Spitz won 9 golds (4 individual) in 2 olympics, 11 metals total.

Phelps won 14 golds (9 individual) in 2 olympics, 16 metals total.

It isn't even close.

Phelps is also the 3rd best backstroker in the world (both 100 and 200 meters). If it wasn't for Piersol, Lochte, and Grevers all being US swimmers, he could have competed for 10 metals.

 

[CPA]

yes.

 

[Nightfall]

He is the greatest swimmer right now thats for sure. Will someone better come along? Probably in the next 50 years.

If there is anything I have learned, its that records were made to be broken.

 

[TallBill]

How the hell would I know if he's the best swimmer ever? All these nubs are commenting and most have learned their entire swimming vocabulary within the last 2 weeks thanks to NBC.

Heres a hint guys, you don't really care about swimming. You wont even think about it for about 4 more years when Phelps comes back to try to get 4 more medals.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: sammyunltd
But, again, how would Phelps fare against Thorpe. They are from the same era.

Thorpe, when he retired, 2 years ago, was dubbed as the greatest ever by most.

Only in freestyle, though. I don't think he ever did much in anything else.

Yeah - Thorpe was mostly considered an amazing freestyle swimmer. He wasn't nearly as versatile as Phelps. I'm not saying he's the greatest Olympian ever, but he should definitely be considered one of (if not #1) the best swimmers ever.
Obviously w/today's suit and training regimen Thorpe would be faster than before and it'd be a very interesting 200m Free race.

I seriously doubt a lot of people understand how hard it is to excel in so many different races.
We see other swimmers excel in one stroke like Japan's guy in breaststroke or USA's Peirsol in backstroke - but you don't see them winning gold (let alone silver) in other races.
It's like when Michael Johnson won the 200m and 400m runs in Atlanta, but how about if he also won the 100 and 800?