Phelps Too Good to be True?

[flyboy55]

When something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

I hope Michael Phelps' emphatic pronouncements about being 'drug free' turn out to be true. Marion Jones' same vehement denials about doping were found out seven years later to be bald-faced lies and she was stripped of the five medals she won in Sydney in 2000, in addition to having all her other results since then expunged from the record books.

If Phelps breaks Mark Spitz's record and subsequently turns out to have 'doped' I don't think I'd see the point in wasting any more time watching Olympic sporting events.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/new ... ?GT1=39003

[weirdo0521]

When something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

I hope Michael Phelps' emphatic pronouncements about being 'drug free' turn out to be true. Marion Jones' same vehement denials about doping were found out seven years later to be bald-faced lies and she was stripped of the five medals she won in Sydney in 2000, in addition to having all her other results since then expunged from the record books.

If Phelps breaks Mark Spitz's record and subsequently turns out to have 'doped' I don't think I'd see the point in wasting any more time watching Olympic sporting events.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/new ... ?GT1=39003

The fact that other swimmers are putting in incredible times leads me to believe a lot has to do with the suits and pool design changes. In the 400 meter freestyle relay, 5 teams broke the previous world record. Imagine breaking the previous world record and not making the podium. That would mean the everyone was on the juice.

[flyboy55]

I would tend to agree with you. Every once in a rare while an athlete comes along who clearly dominates his/her sport.

I guess I'm just getting gun-shy after all the amateur and pro athlete record setters who have turned out to be druggies.

[AlbatrossFlyer]

aquaman has been voluntarily participating in a special drug testing program leading up to the Olympics. dara torres is in the same program. the athletes in this program are the cleanest athletes in the world....

[LIBuffettFan]

I believe in this case its all too good and its all true. He has huge feet (built in phins) and a six foot wing span, that alone can help him jet propel himself though the water.

[SharkOnLand]

aquaman has been voluntarily participating in a special drug testing program leading up to the Olympics. dara torres is in the same program. the athletes in this program are the cleanest athletes in the world....

And they have agreed to store the samples for 8 years or something, so they can test them with any new tests they come up with.

[Frank4]

This is a really fast pool and everyone is putting up incredible times.

This guy is just built and conditioned to be the perfect swimmer. He's a machine and I really am enjoying watching him.

However, as much as I have enjoyed watching him. I saw Recca Sonni swim last night and the way she came from behind and beat the Aussie was incredible. Outside of the relay on Sunday, it's been my favorite race.

[C-Dawg]

aquaman has been voluntarily participating in a special drug testing program leading up to the Olympics. dara torres is in the same program. the athletes in this program are the cleanest athletes in the world....

I read about this progam he's part of.....I can't believe he'd be able to be "on the juice" while going thru all the testing he's volunteered to do.
It's sad the the BS that Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and many other athletes have put us thru has made us so jaded we cannot enjoy an athlete as special as Phelps without wondering if he's cheating.

[SharkOnLand]

I wonder how much Spitz's sweet porno mustache slowed him down in the pool, but not with the ladies.

[Frank4]

aquaman has been voluntarily participating in a special drug testing program leading up to the Olympics. dara torres is in the same program. the athletes in this program are the cleanest athletes in the world....

I read about this progam he's part of.....I can't believe he'd be able to be "on the juice" while going thru all the testing he's volunteered to do.
It's sad the the BS that Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and many other athletes have put us thru has made us so jaded we cannot enjoy an athlete as special as Phelps without wondering if he's cheating.

Very well said. It is sad that someone can't be dedicated to their craft and not avoid be mentioned in the same breath with Jones, Bonds, Canseco, and Clemens.

[buffettbride]

aquaman has been voluntarily participating in a special drug testing program leading up to the Olympics. dara torres is in the same program. the athletes in this program are the cleanest athletes in the world....

I read about this progam he's part of.....I can't believe he'd be able to be "on the juice" while going thru all the testing he's volunteered to do.
It's sad the the BS that Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and many other athletes have put us thru has made us so jaded we cannot enjoy an athlete as special as Phelps without wondering if he's cheating.

Very well said. It is sad that someone can't be dedicated to their craft and not avoid be mentioned in the same breath with Jones, Bonds, Canseco, and Clemens.

Exactly. I want Phelps to be clean and be exactly the athlete that he seems to be. It's sad that we've become so jaded by athletes that we can't trust that someone can perform so well without cheating.

[phjrsaunt]

I prefer not to borrow trouble. I'm SURE he will be tested/looked at abundantly to confirm that he is (or not) drug free.

[LIBuffettFan]

He is a machine and spends something like 5 hours in the pool every day, possibly a fish? maybe they should check him for webbed feet rather than drugs

[Frank4]

I think he's fabulous, I admire his dedication and hard work. In this day and age, it's refreshing to meet an athlete like him. Because he is taking something to a new level and he's enjoying what he does.

We need more guys like him around....

[creeky]

[unlurk

I have a question - I was listening to the news (not aust news - was on my paytv) half asleep this morning and they were saying at an early age he was diagnosed with some disease - that is present in people where their arm span is longer than their height and also people with big feet? Anyway - from my half asleep memory - I didnt hear clearly - but I think they said that he is at risk of some fatal flaw that if some particular cells start doing something - like leaking somewhere ???? is this true or did I hear wrong????

[lurk]

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Jenny, I haven't heard that story, but I have my own theories about Phelps. I think he would be considered a freak of nature if he wasn't such a phenomenal swimmer. Double jointed knees (is that even humanly possible?), hyper flexioned ankles, loooooong torso and relatively short legs, big ears and misaligned jaw and teeth...it screams syndrome to me. Bob Bowman recognized something in the sum of all the parts and created a swimmer. Had that not happened, I wonder where Michael would be today?

Dont' get me wrong, I'm a big fan. It's just that he's so physically different from the others that it got me speculating. I don't believe he's doping....other than the astronomical amount of food he eats.

[creeky]

Jenny, I haven't heard that story, but I have my own theories about Phelps. I think he would be considered a freak of nature if he wasn't such a phenomenal swimmer. Double jointed knees (is that even humanly possible?), hyper flexioned ankles, loooooong torso and relatively short legs, big ears and misaligned jaw and teeth...it screams syndrome to me. Bob Bowman recognized something in the sum of all the parts and created a swimmer. Had that not happened, I wonder where Michael would be today?

Dont' get me wrong, I'm a big fan. It's just that he's so physically different from the others that it got me speculating. I don't believe he's doping....other than the astronomical amount of food he eats.

I am pretty confident that I heard it was a syndrome - just the bit about there being a fatal flaw that got me curious? (and again - I was half asleep so I could be totally wrong on it - no glasses on and my ears dont work good anyway) I guess cause I was wondering if swimming would be something that would help the flaw not happen (such as like most of our swimmers are asthmatics that took swimming up to help that) ... or if it is something that could put at risk????

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Michael Phelps has Marfan's Syndrome:

America's golden boy, Michael Phelps, has been dominating the world's headlines for his accomplishments in swimming and at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But there is something that you probably don't know about him. Michael Phelps has a rare genetic disorder that has undoubtedly helped in his athletic endeavours, but that may also one day prove to be a curse. That disorder, which affects 1 in 5,000 people worldwide, is called Marfan's Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder which characterized by long limbs and long, thin fingers.

Phelps stands 6'4", and has an armspan of 6'7", which is greater than his height. That is a ratio of 1.04, which is just shy of the clinical cutoff of 1.05. He is also said to have hypermobile joints in his knees, shoulders and ankles.

In his book, "Michael Phelps: Beneath the Surface" written by both Phelps and Brian Cazeneuve, Phelps describes the syndrome:

"My heart rate was accelerating and Bob suggested I see the doctor. Because I was very flexible and had long hands and feet. I had some early symptoms of Marfan Syndrome, a disease that affects connective tissues and can be fatal if there is leakage to the vessels that lead to the heart. If you reach out your arms and form a T and your wingspan is longer than your height, you can be at risk. In my case, those measurements have always been very close. I didn't know at the time why the doctor decided to look into this. My mom and Bob didn't want me to freak out, so they told me it was simply a good idea for young athletes to have an EKG test in order to look at the heart.

Fortunately everything was, and still is, okay. I have been tested once a year ever since at John's Hopkins under the direction of Dr. Peter Roe and the tissues are strong, the aortic rout is clear and my heart is in good shape - as long as my Baltimore Ravens are winning."

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/6446

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfan_syndrome

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Jenny, I haven't heard that story, but I have my own theories about Phelps. I think he would be considered a freak of nature if he wasn't such a phenomenal swimmer. Double jointed knees (is that even humanly possible?), hyper flexioned ankles, loooooong torso and relatively short legs, big ears and misaligned jaw and teeth...it screams syndrome to me. Bob Bowman recognized something in the sum of all the parts and created a swimmer. Had that not happened, I wonder where Michael would be today?

Dont' get me wrong, I'm a big fan. It's just that he's so physically different from the others that it got me speculating. I don't believe he's doping....other than the astronomical amount of food he eats.

I am pretty confident that I heard it was a syndrome - just the bit about there being a fatal flaw that got me curious? (and again - I was half asleep so I could be totally wrong on it - no glasses on and my ears dont work good anyway) I guess cause I was wondering if swimming would be something that would help the flaw not happen (such as like most of our swimmers are asthmatics that took swimming up to help that) ... or if it is something that could put at risk????

I would think that would be big news out here though...and I've never heard or read anything about anything potentially fatal. That's the kind of story that would be a part of every bit done on him, given how the media looks for anything they can exploit. I'm curious to see if anyone from the US has heard anything about it.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Jenny, I haven't heard that story, but I have my own theories about Phelps. I think he would be considered a freak of nature if he wasn't such a phenomenal swimmer. Double jointed knees (is that even humanly possible?), hyper flexioned ankles, loooooong torso and relatively short legs, big ears and misaligned jaw and teeth...it screams syndrome to me. Bob Bowman recognized something in the sum of all the parts and created a swimmer. Had that not happened, I wonder where Michael would be today?

Dont' get me wrong, I'm a big fan. It's just that he's so physically different from the others that it got me speculating. I don't believe he's doping....other than the astronomical amount of food he eats.

I am pretty confident that I heard it was a syndrome - just the bit about there being a fatal flaw that got me curious? (and again - I was half asleep so I could be totally wrong on it - no glasses on and my ears dont work good anyway) I guess cause I was wondering if swimming would be something that would help the flaw not happen (such as like most of our swimmers are asthmatics that took swimming up to help that) ... or if it is something that could put at risk????

I would think that would be big news out here though...and I've never heard or read anything about anything potentially fatal. That's the kind of story that would be a part of every bit done on him, given how the media looks for anything they can exploit. I'm curious to see if anyone from the US has heard anything about it.

<<---- *raising hand*