Michael Phelps: I’ll never swim eight events again

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That was a bit of news from Michael Phelps a little while ago on a conference call to discuss his selection as the USOC’s SportsMan of the year.

But the sound bite should be qualified. He said that he would not swim eight events again at ‘a major competition.’ Of course, the definition of major events would be anything that matters, as in the Olympics and World Championships.

Phelps has just gotten back into the water and noted he has put on about 15 pounds since winning eight gold medals at the Olympics in Beijing. He spoke to his close buddy and former Olympian Erik Vendt, wondering how Vendt got back into training so quickly after taking two years off.

‘ ‘How did you do that?’ ‘ Phelps said of his question to Vendt.

Phelps said Vendt told him, ‘ ‘I knew it was going to hurt and I pushed through it and I didn’t care.’ ‘

Phelps was happy to have his life back on a schedule again and said he will sit down with Coach Bob Bowman and map out some goals in the next week or so. It sounded as though the plan for his first competition back would be at a Grand Prix meet at Austin, Texas, in early March.

-- Lisa Dillman