Phelps Ain't Done

He could retire now, but at 23, he probably has 2 more Olympics to go...In 8 years he'd be 31, one year older than Ryk Neethling is now.

clipped from sports.yahoo.com The naysayers claim that because Phelps is a swimmer, somehow his accomplishments aren't as impressive. (One column, ridiculously, even goes so far as to say that it's "easy to win multiple medals in swimming.") Because swimming has so many racing opportunities, they say, medals are cheapened. Rubbish. Of the 20 men who have won the most Olympic medals, only three (Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi) were swimmers. Gymnasts dominate the top 20.  If winning swimming medals was so easy, swimmers should theoretically be all over that list. Even if they did, though, Phelps' versatility renders that argument moot. Just because all swimming strokes take place in a pool doesn't mean they're the same. Phelps also won golds in three different strokes, a feat made even more impressive considering he was competing in those events with stroke specialists who gear their entire training toward that one discipline.