The "Mike" Who Almost Beat Michael

BEIJING - Milorad Cavic, the only man to come close to beating Michael Phelps in seven consecutive finals, might not be a household name, but he's no stranger to America's best swimmers.

Ian Crocker, the world record holder in the 100m butterfly who placed fourth in Beijing (and whom many thought would be Phelps' biggest threat on Saturday's race) said, "I know Cavic very well. My senior year at Texas he was the world record holder in the short course 100m fly. He had me sweating the whole year."                         

"I see him as a Cal guy," Crocker added.

Ben Wildman-Tobriner, who swam for rival Stanford and watched the photo-finish on a monitor just before placing fifth in the 50m free, said he was and wasn't surprised at Cavic's performance. "We knew Michael would be fast," he said, laughed and added, "but there are two Michaels in America. [Milorad] goes by ‘Michael' in the States."

Cavic was born to Serbian parents in Anaheim, Calif., and came to Beijing with the goal of earning a bronze medal. Yet in two previous Olympics, he had never made it past the semifinals. On Friday, however, he swam the fastest qualifying time for the 100m fly, faster even than Phelps. And on Saturday, Cavic made a name for himself with a finish so close that it had Phelps doubting himself.

"When I took that last stroke," Phelps said, "I thought I lost the race."

The .01 second that separated Phelps and Cavic was so imperceptible that Serbian officials asked the international swimming referees to re-examine the sensitivity of the touch-pads in lane 4 (Cavic's) and 5 (Phelps') to make sure there was no malfunction.

Cavic wasn't interested in the protest. "I would drop it," he said. "I'm stoked with what happened. I did my best time. And people will be asking me about this for years."

The protest was ultimately dismissed and the referee Ben Ekumbo said, "It's very clear that one was stroking and one was gliding," and Phelps' stroke made the clear difference over Cavic's glide.

Phelps was officially times at 50.58 seconds, an Olympic record that allowed him to tie Mark Spitz for the most gold medals won at a single Games (seven).

"I'm sure people will be telling me for years, ‘You won that race,'" Cavic said, but the electronic scoreboard showed that he earned the silver.

One thing, however, is certain. Cavic won't be as nervous next time he takes on Phelps.

Leading up to Saturday's final, Cavic thought, "It's frightening thing to race Michael Phelps," and he thanked triple Olympic gold medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands for putting him at ease.

"I said, ‘Pieter, I'm scared. I don't know what to expect.' He said, ‘Enjoy the experience. Have fun. This is a beautiful thing.' It calmed me down. My best races are when I'm relaxed."

Relaxed, indeed.

And now confident.

At the end of the press conference, a reporter asked if he thought Michael Phelps was really the gold medalist that morning.

Cavic replied: "I think if we got in the pool to do this again, I would win it."

Aimee Berg  is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This feature was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.