When you think about it, Michael Phelps isn't just the greatest swimmer in the world because he's incredibly fast. It's also because, no matter what's going on in his life, no matter what transition he's undertaking or controversy he's facing, he's never slow.There are times when he's faster than others, certainly. But one part of his athletic genius that is so easy to overlook is his consistency. He's occasionally amazing, often good and never awful. Mentally, he might be furious or frustrated about something, but he's always been able to put it aside long enough that it doesn't matter. And that sort of sums up his performance Wednesday night at the U.S. nationals.Phelps won the 200-meter freestyle with a swim that was solid but unspectacular, by his standards, touching the wall in 1 minute 44.23 seconds. When he finished, he glared at the scoreboard, unsure of what to make of his race, which, by the way, happened to be the fastest time in the world this year.An hour later, he won the 200-meter butterfly in 1:52.76, also the fastest time in the world this year. But before he climbed out of the pool, he shook his head in minor frustration, and was clearly angry as he entered the warm-up pool. Never mind that he's done almost no training for the 200 butterfly this year."I'm not happy unless I'm swimming my best times," Phelps said. "This is the first time I've been shaved and tapered where I didn't hit my best times, and that's not something I'm used to."
By Kevin Van Valkenburg
LA Times
