Throwback Thursday: Michael Phelps’ 41 Days to Remember in the 200 Individual Medley
The lower-key nature of the 2003 Santa Clara Invitational belied what unfolded in the water of the George Haines International Swim Center. On the final day of the meet in Northern California, Michael Phelps treated the fans in attendance – and fellow athletes – to a surprise world-record performance.
In the final of the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps ripped a time of 1:57.94 to break the nine-year-old global standard of Finland’s Jani Sievinen (1:58.16). It was the sixth world record of Phelps’ fledgling career, No. 5 on an individual basis. While certainly a sensational swim, it was just the start of 41 sensational days by Phelps in the event.
More often than not, world-record performances slice miniscule amounts of time from the previous mark. Of course, there are outliers to this statement. For instance, last summer saw Frenchman Leon Marchand lop more than a second off the world record in the 200 IM. But for the most part, world records are lowered by a tenth here and a few hundredths there. Additionally, we don’t often witness multiple global standards in the same event within a tight timeframe.
So, the Summer of 2003 was anything but ordinary as Phelps, not yet an Olympic medalist, wore his eraser to a nub as he assaulted the record book in the 200 individual medley.
Phelps’ six-week assault began in late June at the Santa Clara Invitational, formerly a can’t-miss meet for elite athletes targeting a major summer competition. For Phelps, the meet was a tuneup for the impending World Championships in Barcelona, where Phelps would tackle a multi-event program at a global meet for the first time. The previous summer featured the Pan Pacific Championships and while Phelps contested multiple events in Yokohama, Japan, the meet did not include European foes.
On the final day of action in Santa Clara, Phelps left little doubt his trip to Barcelona would be memorable. Nine years after Sievinen set the world record in the 200 IM at the World Champs in Rome, Phelps cut .22 from the standard. For the first time, a swimmer covered the event in under 1:58, the effort further elevating Phelps’ rising star.
Less than a month later, Phelps – as expected – was the star of the World Championships. He doubled in the medley events and retained his world title in the 200 butterfly. A silver medal was added in the 100 butterfly. The 200 IM supplied the greatest fireworks. After Phelps set a world record of 1:57.52 in the semifinals, Phelps defeated Aussie Ian Thorpe by three-plus seconds in the final, a world record of 1:56.04 getting the job done. Phelps was now more than two seconds faster than anyone else in the history of the event.
Yet, he wasn’t done.
After arriving home from Barcelona, coach Bob Bowman had Phelps make the short trip from his training base at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club to the University of Maryland, which was hosting the United States National Championships. Could Phelps hold his taper from Worlds? That answer was emphatically provided when he broke his fourth world record of the summer in the 200 IM, going 1:55.94.
In the span of 41 days, Phelps became the first man under 1:58, 1:57 and 1:56 in the 200 individual medley. Phelps had a little extra motivation in Maryland, as Bowman told him he would shave his head if he went under 1:56. By the next summer, of course, Phelps had eight Olympic medals (six gold) from Athens.
“Wow. That’s all I can say,” Phelps said. “I shocked myself for sure. “I said, ‘I’m going out after it. I’m going out in 54 and try to hang on.’ I left it all in the pool.”
