Michael Phelps: Golden memories

Memories often will fade as time passes. Other athletes and their performances will take away the spotlight.

What Michael Phelps did during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, though, is unlikely to ever fade. Looking back a year later, Phelps' peers recall it as a perfect performance.

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Phelps re-wrote the history books, winning eight gold medals, eclipsing the record of seven gold medals that Mark Spitz set back in the Munich 1972 Olympic Games. He also set seven world records in the process.

And it just wasn't the fact that he won eight golds, it was the way in which he did it. Some of the wins were easy, while others were by a fingertip. He won one race when he practically swam with his eyes closed. The relays truly were a collaborative effort.

Phelps, who was raised in Baltimore and trains at the swimming facility where he got his start following his older sisters, won individual gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly, 200- and 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter freestyle. He was also on gold-medal teams in the 4 x 100 free, the 4 x 200 free and the 4 x 100 medley relays.

"The longer we get away from that we realize more and more how special that was," said Garrett Weber-Gale, who joined Phelps on two relay teams in Beijing. "Because it really is that hard to do."

 It was a goal Phelps had been working toward for years. Competing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics at age 15, he became the youngest male Olympian since 1932. He went on to win eight medals, six gold and two bronze, at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The medal haul left the world breathless. Even Olympic and world champion swimmers were left in Phelps's incredible wake.

"Just in the grand scheme of things, the effort that went into those nine days is impressive," said Aaron Peirsol, a world-record holder and relay teammate of Phelps in Beijing.

Phelps' run to eight medals nearly ended at the start. With one gold medal in hand, Phelps had to rely on help from his teammates to keep his chase for eight golds intact. On Aug. 11, 2008, he and his American teammates did everything they could to win the 4 x 100 relay, which was considered to be Phelps's biggest roadblock en route to the medal record.

Entering the Olympic Games, France's superstar sprinter Alain Bernard taunted the Phelps and Co., telling reporters, "The Americans? We're going to smash them.''

Wrong move, as it only proved to further motivate an already motivated U.S. squad.

Jason Lezak proved to be the hero as he chased down Bernard in the final lap as he eventually edged the Frenchman by a fingertip and shaved nearly four seconds off a world record.

Phelps stood poolside and let out a primal scream heard around the globe.

"It all came together perfectly," said Weber-Gale, who was on that relay along with Lezak, Phelps and Cullen Jones.

But there were more memories to be made.

Phelps later competed in the 200 fly, only to find that he had incorrectly put on his goggles and could barely see through the water. He touched the wall in world-record time but was visibly angered because his rookie mistake could have cost him a shot at a gold medal. He didn't make that mistake twice and even threw out the goggles to make sure of that.

Arguably the most memorable moment from Beijing came when Phelps had a photo finish against Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 fly. At first appeared that Cavic had beat Phelps to the finish, but the touch pads revealed Phelps was the winner by one-hundredth of a second. His mother, Debbie Phelps, was shown shaking from the drama on televisions worldwide.

It took a protest and video replays to confirm the victory. It took a frame-by-frame, slow-motion replay to determine that Phelps did indeed win by a fingertip. Mike Bottom, who coached Cavic in Beijing and now is the coach at the University of Michigan, said Bob Bowman, the coach of Phelps, thanked him for filing the protest, as it led to no doubts being held about Phelps's performance in Beijing.

One year later, however, those victories aren't what impress Peirsol the most.

"There isn't one particular thing," he said. "I'm looking at it as a complete work, more or less. It was perfect the whole way through. It was the way everything fit together for him and did so perfectly."

Phelps' wins in the 400 free relay and the 100 fly show how slim the margin of error was to reach his goal.

"It's such a hard thing to do (winning eight gold medals)-you almost need a little luck sometimes," Weber-Gale said. "Like in the 100 fly or the relay."

Phelps even put his teammates in awe of his Beijing performances. 

"A lot of people think it's cool that he won eight gold medals," Weber-Gale said. "But a lot of people that aren't in the sport don't realize how hard that is to do."

Phelps' eight gold medals doubled his career medal count to 16, with 14 of those being gold, the most collected by any Olympic athlete.

Amazingly, his performance in Beijing, may have not satisfied his hunger to achieve more.

"There are still a lot of unfinished goals I want to accomplish," Phelps said. "I have unfinished business. When I retire I want to look back at my career and I want to be able to say I did everything I ever wanted to do.

"The only thing that really keeps me going are the goals I have."

Phelps said he writes those goals down on a piece of paper and gives them to his coach, Bowman, or sends them to him via e-mail. It's a habit Phelps has been doing for 13 years.

"He has them, I have them, and that's it," Phelps said. "We're going to do everything we can to get those goals."

If any of those goals has Phelps equaling or somehow bettering his performance in Beijing, he's not telling the public.

"Even my mother doesn't know them," Phelps said.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Brian Peloza is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.