SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Rewind: 2004 World Swimmers of the Year

By Jason Marsteller

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 26. IN conjunction with the release of this year's December issue of Swimming World Magazine, SwimmingWorldMagazine.com will announce this year's World Swimmers of the Year. At that time, the world will see just how close the 2006 races were for our distinguished swimming experts. We also will be introducing this year's American, African, European and Pacific Rim Region Swimmers of the Year

SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Rewind has traveled back through the years to reminisce about previous winners in anticipation of next week's celebration.

Today's Rewind, the last in the World Swimmer of the Year series, checks out the 2004 winners: Michael Phelps and Yana Klochkova.

Here is an excerpt of the story written in the December issue of 2004:

Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, national championships — there was plenty of swimming to be swum in 2004, and only the best of the best were voted Swimmers of the Year by the staff of Swimming World and its 19-member international panel of experts.

Michael Phelps is Swimming World's male World Swimmer and American Swimmer of the Year.

Duh!

Last year, when Michael captured his first-ever world title, Swimming World wrote that he had "a mythic year, an epic year, a year that led to comparisons with the great Mark Spitz."

Well, he was better in 2004!

Not even American teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen or Ian Crocker could unseat Phelps for top honors — and they each set three world records this year! (And that doesn't count Crocker's and Peirsol's short course world records!).

But Michael was even more magnificent:
• He won eight Olympic medals in Athens, surpassing Mark Spitz' seven in 1972 and equaling the most ever won in a single Olympiad.
• Six of those medals were gold, second only to Spitz.
• Four of his gold medals came in individual events (100-200 meter fly and 200-400 IM), tying Spitz.

So much for passing the test with comparisons to swimming's legendary icon, Mark Spitz.

Phelps, 19, also set two world records this year — twice in the 400 IM (4:08.41 at Olympic Trials and 4:08.26 at the Olympics). And he came within 11-hundredths of a second of his world mark in the 200 fly and 77-hundredths in the 200 IM.

In the 200 free, Phelps became the third fastest performer ever when he captured bronze (American record 1:45.32) behind Nos. 1 and 2 all-time, Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband. And although he did not swim the 200 back at Athens, Phelps still managed to sneak by Lenny Krayzelburg as the second fastest ever in the event with his 1:55.30 from U.S. Nationals in February.

For the complete Swimming World Magazine article on the 2004 World Swimmers of the Year, click here.

Premium online subscribers can view the entire 2004 December edition of the magazine, as well as any other edition of the magazine back to 1960. To order a premium subscription, please click here.

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