ocealdia

I don't know. He has been mentioned in the coverage I've heard many times, they bring up his seven golds he won in one olympics that Phelps has to beat. I think Phelps has 5 or 6 so far in this olympics.
I heard he's whining about not being invited to the Olympics, I don't know what the deal was, but he was a great swimmer. Does he have to be invited to show up? I wish he was there though.

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poetrychic

i don't think he necessarily has to be invited just to show up...the point is that his record is in all likely hood going to be dismantled by this young man and any time that has happened previously, the former record holder was invited to participate in the passing of the torch, so to speak...spitz was a great athlete and swimmer in his time and his achievements have held solid for 30+ years, it's a little insulting, to say the least, that he wasn't invited to be part of the celebration...that's not quite the same thing as whining

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"it was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation, yes we can!"

PursuitOfHappinessParty

He was at the last Olympics when his records were originally threatened. Spoke highly and hopeful that his record would fall. It didn't. Maybe he can't afford the trip or something.

Spitz is better than Phelps anyway. He did it without the high-tech suits and he did it with a Porn Mustache and full head of hair.

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" Tie two birds together and though they have four wings they cannot fly " Blind Master in 'Circle Of Iron'

guest1234567

He was invited to attend the last Olympics because his records were threatened.

He still speaks highly of Phelps.

He's a stock broker and a motivational speaker, he can afford it. It IS an affront to his status as a 30-year record holder.

The equipment is relative, everybody is using the same equipment in the finals. It's the training and the 2 a days since they were 6.

Some chick on MSNBC was making fun of him last night, saying things like "When a baseball record is broken, they don't invite the current record holder!" Somebody should have told her that they actually do.

poetrychic

i dunno, from the interview i read he felt pretty slighted that no one from the olympic even contacted him about the possibility of being there this time...

serious comment on the quoted text below: true, but if anyone's going to beat his record i'm glad it's phelps...he seems like a really good kid and in this era of our sports stars using drugs at any given turn to beat out their competitors, i'm really happy he's not fallen into that habit...it makes it more meaningful...

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"it was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation, yes we can!"

ocealdia

Uh...yeah...I do believe your right. The suit and equipment don't get up every day at 5:30 and train for years. All the other guys have same suits, etc. and he is the leader of the pack every time. Phelps is a phenonoman.

Hey, Mark Spitz was great, I don't know why he wasn't invited, he should have been, but for some reason he wasn't.

If some can't enjoy Phelps triumphs now because of Spitz in the past, sad for them.

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MarkMiller

This is why I hate the olympics.....aside from copyrighting a thousand year old term....it has consistantly proven to be very politcal, by the countries the athletes and the media. they use it as nothing more than a way to make money. I am sick of it. i saw phelps in the race that was personaly important to me and was able to watch it with all of my siblings who have all swam competively....OK so i sucked at it.....but these Olypians deserve respect till the day they die.

When Phelps breaks the record....he technicaly won't really be breaking it anyway. These olympics have been manipulated for the purpose of making it easier for records to be broken and that is not the Olympic spirit.

guest1234567

While I completely agree that swimming technology has made it easier to break records, the technology is there for everyone. The pools, lane ropes, turn gutters and suits are equally used. But competition is the spirit of the Olympics, not just the records. Medals are given to those who win, and everybody still has to compete.

If and when Phelps breaks the record, you can rest assured he still had to train his whole life just to make it to this moment. And everyone else in the pool at the same time did the same. With the help of their parents, families and friends, they all arrived at the stage
with the same goal of winning.