The Hindu : Sport / World View : Thorpe's advice to Phelps

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Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004

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Sport - World View

Thorpe's advice to Phelps

BRISBANE: Australian star swimmer Ian Thorpe (in picture below) is sure his U.S. rival Michael Phelps will be one of the stars of the Athens Olympics, but he has some advice for the 19-year old: forget about trying to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in the pool.

"In terms of what Michael's trying to do, I've said before and I still hold the position that I don't think anyone's going to win seven gold medals at an Olympics,'' Thorpe said here on Tuesday.

Phelps has entered 11 out of the 13 men's individual events at the U.S. trials, which start in Long Beach, California on Wednesday.

But he is considered unlikely to swim all 11 events, dropping some during the meet and keeping his rivals guessing until the last minute about his possible programme for Athens.

Phelps, who set five world records at last year's Barcelona World championships, is expected to swim the 100 and 200m butterfly, the 200 and 400m individual medley, the 200m freestyle and all three men's relays in Athens.

That would give him a chance of eclipsing Spitz's seven-medal haul at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Thorpe, favourite to take the 400m freestyle gold in Athens, looks like racing head-to-head with Phelps only in one individual event in Greece — the 200m freestyle. — AP

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