I personally would be more impressed with a winner who is racing against others of the same height and stature. You obviously have an edge when your arms are as long as paddles and legs as long as small canoes. I also think gymnasts should compete against ages 15 and younger and 16 and older. 14- and 15-year-olds do have more limber bodies than 16-year-olds….just compare the performance of Nadia Comanenci at 14 and 16.

Now I am crushed. My one comment registers as 0 comments.

I don't know, I think it's pretty impressive that he's so perfectly built for swimming. They're all built like that, that's how they got to the Olympics, he just happens to be a little better than the rest of the best.

Not to mention how hard he trains. He swims for six hours a day to be as good as he is. It isn't just genetic luck.

Michelin don't you think they all train that hard? His arms looked about six inches longer than others...not to mention his legs. I guess now I'm going to have to look it up

6'4" is about average for team USA. Matt Grevers is 6'8" and he's not any faster! Being an exceptional athlete is part body type and part effort. Phelps is swimming as fast as he can and he still only wins races by one one-hundredth of a second! I don't think his body gives him a ridiculous advantage. But if you're not impressed, then maybe you're just not impressed by swimmers

Thanks for looking that up! Matt Grevers is 6'8"....okay I concede.

sounds like SOMEBODY was jealous. i'm sick of hearing about him... but you can't deny he's incredibly good at what he does.

Agreed YY. the other day he won gold in something, don't remember what event, and another American won bronze. Phelps just stood there and kind of smiled on and off, but the other American made me cry sports tears because he was so overcome with emotion for just being where he was. I wanted to watch him, but the only time you even saw him was in the background of some shot of Phelps.

I personally wasn't feeling jealous, but I am tired of hearing about him. I just like things to be fair...and I guess they are, at least in swimming. I too would rather watch those with the emotion.

Jazz, just to be clear, when I said agreed, I was talking about the phelps hype, not jealousy!

Thanks Great Sommelier. I was just starting to get used to being picked on today.

I'm glad to hear som egood things about USA. This guy is a great athlete, and he's done something to make America proud. Let's all give him and his accomplishment their due.

No one can deny he's a great athlete, and it IS awesome he's representing the USA.

Jazz Z,

In response to your earliest posts, competitive swimming is one sport, perhaps more so than others, where athletes are predisposed to shine in particular areas based on body type. It may be distance, sprints, or one of the four strokes. Michael Phelps has one of the most anti-breast stroke bodies that I have ever seen, but he held his own in those particular legs of his IMs. Why? Because he is PASSIONATE about the sport of swimming, hates to lose, and won't even consider limitations based on what people predict him to be capable of.

Give the guy his props. He is perhaps the greatest, and I might add, most modest, driven and ego-less athletes we may ever see.

I guess we can all learn from him. The passion you describe is certainly a passion to live by. I obviously don't follow the swimming circuit, that is why I opened discussion...to be enlightened.

If you don't follow the circuit, consider not attacking it.

Fuzzles, she's just saying her opinion. I wouldn't really call it "attacking". None of us claim to be swimming experts

fuzzles, I think I will continue to comment on anything I like, and obviously that goes if I think someone who is 6'4" might have an advantage over someone who is 6' in a swimming competition.

And, you are the one who is in attack mode.

Thanks Michelin.

Once again, if you have never been in the water as a competitive swimmer, what is your platform? Convince me. Good night.

Well shoot, most of us have never been in politics, so I guess we should all stop arguing.

Oh, by the way, I just hit Diamond! Yay.

Woo hoo mich! And fuzzles, chill, Jazz can say whatever the hell she wants to say! That's the beauty of a free country.

Way to go Mich!!

Congrats, Mich!

And Jazz, while I am impressed with Phelps, I do understand what you are saying about body type. I have read multiple articles emphasizing how his long torso and short (for his height) legs give him the perfect body type to be a swimmer. Of course, as someone else mentioned, all successful athletes are that way due to a combination of natural ability and hard work.

Interestingly, I have heard many times that Natalie Coughlin is actually the person on the U.S. swim team with the most natural talent, even more than Phelps. Has anyone else heard anything about that?

Cheering for Michael all the way!

Of course body type gives an advantage, as does natural innate ability. This is true in many sports.

I don't think that takes anything away from what he did. It's like saying that Lance Armstrong's huge lung capacity makes his Tour wins less worthy.

I, too, am a little sick of hearing about him. But he earned his medals with hard work. A body type isn't sufficient to win 8 olympic golds.

I definitely wasn't saying it was. (Not that you are saying I am, pop, I just wanted to clarify.)

hey lilkimbo - I was responding to the first comment. I agree w/ what you wrote.

I honestly just felt it kind of odd to imply that how he was built somehow takes away from the accomplishment!

As for the natural talent comment about Natalie Coughlin, I hadn't heard that. Natural talent is an amazing thing to watch. I had a boyfriend once who was the most naturally talented runner I had ever seen. And actually his body type was NOT that of a distance runner. He was like 40 pounds overweight, and he'd totally piss off all these super-thin fit runners by kicking their ass despite him being like, twice their size. In his case, a "better" body type would have definitely helped him out!

Congratulations Mich!! You're the best!

Thanks again GS...you're always watching my back.

lilkimbo I read on another site: "...on the Olympic broadcast one of the announcers brought up that many foreign swimmers think Natalie Coughlin is easily the most talented of all Team USA swimmers. Is that a slight against Coughlin for not dominating all of her events because she doesn't work hard enough? Is it putting down other swimmers that might not be as talented by just getting by on determination? ... Sports like track and swimming have quantifiable results we can use to compare athletes, having to go into the abstract and compare "natural talent" just seems unnecessary..."

I wonder how "natural talent" is defined. Is it a person who doesn't have the perfect body type yet still wins medals based on talent? Or someone who, for example, would naturally swim sideways after the turn to obtain an edge without thinking.

Speaking of natural build... Did anyone see the Women's Marathon? I was really surprised to see that China placed 3rd and 4th! Their legs, compared to many of the other contenders, were super short! I am impressed with them.

I realize that endurance is a HUGE part of marathons.... but I had assumed that body-type played a roll. Certainly it does, but not necessarily as large a roll as I previously thought.

Correction: On my comment 30 above the poster I was quoting forgot to close quotes after "...USA swimmers" the rest of the quote was the poster's opinion, not the broadcasters.