Michael Phelps Needs to Sleep at Summer Olympian

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Michael Phelps Needs to Sleep

Posted April 7, 2008 at 05:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor

Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Aquatics, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor

Michael Phelps (not sleeping) No one would ever accuse American swimming phenom Michael Phelps of not being able to prove a point. Sunday’s Boston Globe lengthy profile of Phelps begins with a quote: “‘I’m far, far from being a morning person,’ the planet’s best swimmer acknowledges.” So what did Phelps do to emphasize his sleepyhead tendencies? Reuters reports that he fell asleep on a diving board platform at the April 5 Columbus (Ohio) Grand Prix forcing him to pull out of the meet’s 400 meter freestyle event.

The Boston Globe article emphasized the concerns about Phelps’ sleep because the Beijing 2008 swimming schedule will be different than Olympics past. The preliminary and semi-final heats will be held in the evening and the finals will be held the following morning. The reason: Beijing mornings are prime time American television viewing hours. This unorthodox schedule could prove to be Phelps’ most daunting obstacle towards his unstated goal of eight Olympic golds. The fatigue may be too overwhelming and he could pull a repeat of Columbus.

These weren’t the first articles that examined Phelps and his sleep patterns. During the February 2008 Missouri Grand Prix Phelps’ drowsiness issues also took center stage. That meet was a relative disappointment for Phelps. Unlike many of the meet’s other swimmers, his times were below the expected world record challenging paces. The Missouri Grand Prix had seen introduction of the now infamous super speedy world record-toppling Speedo LZR swimsuit. Interestingly, Phelps did not use the LZR for all his swims that week.

Phelps’ coach cited Michael’s insomnia in the Detroit Free Press as the reason for his slower times: “Lack of sleep. Lack of shape. He just wasn’t himself.” A Baltimore Sun article even led with “Michael Phelps didn’t sleep well this past week at the Missouri Grand Prix. And he couldn’t figure out why.” The Missouri Grand Prix had morning finals, just like the one’s scheduled in Beijing. Could Phelps be in trouble?

Any swimmer attempting the gargantuan task of eight competitive events is sure to face deep fatigue. Phelps knows this and he’s no stranger to stretching his physical boundaries; he competed in eight events at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia winning 7 golds. But the task in Beijing will be more difficult and more draining than it was in Melbourne. There will be more (American) press, layers of stamina-sucking smog, and higher expectations. We believe he can do it as long as the Beijing Water Cube’s platform diving board doesn’t prove too comfy. But has Phelps given us cause for concern because he seems to be the only elite swimmer NOT smashing world records this March and April? Maybe he is just lulling his competition into an overconfident sleep.