United States’ silver medal winner Michael Phelps, Hungary’s silver medal winner Laszlo Cseh, Singapore’s gold medal winner Joseph Schooling and South Africa’s silver medal winner Chad Le Clos, from left, in the men’s 100-meter butterfly medals ceremony during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP PHOTO
RIO DE JANEIRO—What the vault is to the US gymnast Simone Biles, the 100m butterfly is to the five-time Olympian Michael Phelps. The shortest individual race in Phelps’ Olympic program has always been his toughest. His three consecutive victories, starting at the 2004 Games in Athens, came by a total margin of 28-hundredths of a second.
In his previous three finals, Phelps had never been better than fifth after the first 50. In Friday night’s final, he turned sixth, more than a half-second behind the leader, Joseph Schooling of Singapore, a rising junior and all-American swimmer at Texas.
Phelps chased Schooling in the last 50, but Schooling could not be caught. He clocked a 50.39, faster than Phelps swam in any of his Olympic victories.
“As a kid I wanted to be like him,” said Schooling, who got his photograph taken with Phelps before his eight-gold-medal performance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. “It’s crazy to think of what happens in eight years,” Schooling said, adding: “A lot of this is because of Michael. He’s the reason I wanted to be a better swimmer.”
Phelps tied for second with Laszlo Cseh and Chad le Clos in 51.14. How fitting. Phelps has been racing against the 30-year-old Cseh for over a decade. His rivalry with le Clos, while shorter in duration, has been more intense. Le Clos handed Phelps his first butterfly defeat at the Olympics in the 200 in 2012.
Light-hearted, despite fatigue
At le Clos’ suggestion, the silver medalists interlocked hands and raised their arms like relay members as they stepped to the medals podium. “I think it was a great thing because we are good friends and we have a long history together,” Cseh said. “It was right to do that.”
The degree of difficulty for Phelps, 31, as he tried to win a fourth consecutive Olympic title was compounded by the cumulative fatigue from his gold medal turns this week in two relays, the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. His legs felt leaden, but his heart was light. After two years of hard labor in the pool and harder self-reflective work out of it, Phelps said, “I’m enjoying the sport like I did when I was an 18-year-old.”
He brought to the two-lap race, his 62nd swim in Olympic competition and his last in an individual event, an appetite for the fight and an acceptance of whatever outcome was in the stars. Phelps took comfort in knowing he had put in the work and prepared well, in contrast with his haphazard, halfhearted approach to the 2012 London Games, where he relied on guile and guts to win six medals, including four golds.
“I’ve been able to stand on the block and say I’ve done everything I could to prepare myself, and that’s all that matters,” Phelps said.
‘Next generation is alright’
At the postrace news conference, Phelps sat next to Schooling. After answering several questions directed at him, Phelps playfully protested. “Joe should be getting most of the questions,” he said. “He just won a gold medal.”
Phelps said he was proud of Schooling. Seeing his time gave Phelps permission to retire. The next generation is all right. “Being able to close the door on the sport the way I wanted to, that’s why I’m happy right now,” he said.
After his 200 I.M. final/100 butterfly semifinal on Thursday, Phelps said: “I kind of knew when I first started coming back that it wasn’t going to be an easy process. I was going to have to force myself to go through pain that maybe I really didn’t want to do. I was at a point in my life where I was ready to do that, and willing to do that.”
With 26 Olympic medals, including 22 golds, Phelps stepped on the blocks knowing that win or lose, he had achieved more than would have seemed possible in 2000, when he was a lantern-jawed 15-year-old finishing fifth in his first Olympic final.
“I think the biggest thing for me is I’ve kind of been able to finish the way I wanted to,” he said. “I’ve been able to come back, and I’ve been able to accomplish things that I just dreamt of.”
The appreciative crowd at Olympic Aquatics Stadium, which greeted him with sustained applause, included Phelps’ fiancée, Nicole Johnson, and the couple’s 3-month-old, Boomer, who was somehow able to sleep despite the din. TVJ