{"id":485389,"date":"2024-08-16T04:21:29","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T11:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=485389"},"modified":"2024-08-16T05:33:55","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T12:33:55","slug":"on-this-date-michael-phelps-vs-milorad-cavic-a-half-stroke-to-history-at-beijing-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/on-this-date-michael-phelps-vs-milorad-cavic-a-half-stroke-to-history-at-beijing-games\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Date: Michael Phelps vs. Milorad Cavic: A Half-Stroke To History at Beijing Games (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

On This Date: Michael Phelps vs. Milorad Cavic: A Half-Stroke To History at Beijing Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

With just a few strokes remaining in the 100-meter butterfly duel between Michael Phelps and Milorad Cavic at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Phelps\u2019 pursuit of eight gold medals looked over. Cavic had a visible lead, until Phelps dipped into his bag of magic tricks and pulled out an improbable victory. Today, August 16, marks the anniversary of that showdown.<\/em><\/p>\n

Through six events at the 2008 Olympic Games<\/a> in Beijing, Michael Phelps<\/strong> was perfect. With the exception of needing an epic, come-from-behind performance by anchor Jason Lezak<\/strong> for the United States to win the 400 freestyle relay over France, Phelps was an unstoppable force. He wasn\u2019t just winning events at the Water Cube, the nickname for the state-of-the-art Beijing Aquatic Center. He was destroying the competition, prevailing by margins typically reserved for an ahead-of-the-curve swimmer at the age-group level.<\/p>\n

At the international level, hundredths of a second are supposed to separate the top finishers, such is the narrow difference in skill. Phelps didn\u2019t play that game. His triumphs were routs, the rest of the field competing for silver and bronze medals. He won the 200 freestyle by nearly two seconds. He won the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley by more than seconds each. Although he won the 200 butterfly by \u201conly\u201d 67 hundredths of a second, there was a reason: Phelps raced the event with limited vision, his goggles having filled up with water at the start.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ By the time the final of the 100 butterfly was contested, however, Phelps was \u2013 not surprisingly \u2013 running low on energy. To that point, he had raced 15 times. Not all of his swims required maximum effort, but the totality of the events, coupled with media obligations and drug-testing procedures, had started to take their toll. Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman<\/strong> admitted to the onset of exhaustion and the importance of remaining mentally sharp in order to fend off the physical drain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got nothing left,\u201d Phelps said after winning the 200 individual medley.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Phelps did have some gas in the reserve tank, and he needed every ounce of that fuel for the 100 butterfly. Before the 2008 Games started, the 100 fly was viewed as the biggest individual obstacle on Phelps\u2019 road to eight gold medals. For one, it was late in the program and a weary Phelps would clash with much-fresher opponents. More, it was his only 100-meter race, and Phelps was much-better suited for events which were 200 meters in length, or 400 meters in the case of one of the individual medley disciplines.<\/p>\n

The biggest obstacle, however, was the presence of Serbia\u2019s Milorad Cavic<\/strong>, a speedster who would undoubtedly surge to a fast start, take a sizable lead on Phelps and try to hold on for dear life. Cavic was viewed as one of two legitimate threats to Phelps, along with American Ian Crocker<\/strong>, the world-record holder at the time and silver medalist to Phelps at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.<\/p>\n

While Cavic was rising and getting faster, Crocker wasn\u2019t the force he was in the middle of the decade, especially at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal. There, Crocker set the world record and defeated Phelps handily, the race never in question. Like Cavic, Crocker was a fast starter and building an advantage on Phelps during the first lap was the only way to beat him. Cavic knew all about that strategy. Brash and unafraid to speak his mind, Cavic also believed Phelps was beatable.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely want to shoot for the gold,\u201d Cavic said two months before the Beijing Games. \u201cAs much as the world would like to be entertained to see Michael Phelps get eight gold medals, I don\u2019t want to give it to him. I hope to stand in the way. I hope to slay the dragon. I don\u2019t know if I can say that, but I did just say it. And that\u2019s kind of what it is. Everyone has this idea that he\u2019s unbeatable, and he\u2019s not. I think I\u2019m going to have a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cavic wasn\u2019t the typical European foe of Phelps, a la Hungarian Laszlo Cseh<\/strong>, who was second to Phelps in Beijing in the 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. Unlike Cseh, born and raised in Hungary, Cavic was born in Anaheim, Calif. to parents who immigrated to the United States from the former Yugoslavia. He was a national-record setter for Tustin High School and was named Swimming World Magazine\u2019s Male High School Swimmer of the Year in 2002. Known as Milorad on international entry and rankings lists, Cavic more frequently went by Michael or Mike while growing up, and while competing collegiately for the University of California-Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be mistaken. Cavic wasn\u2019t ignorant to his roots. He respected his parents\u2019 heritage and the fight for freedom which gave Serbia its independence. That respect actually cost Cavic at the 2008 European Championships. After winning the 50 butterfly, Cavic protested Kosovo\u2019s recent declared independence from Serbia by wearing a T-shirt on the awards podium which read, \u201cKosovo is Serbia.\u201d The move was deemed a political gesture by meet officials and led to Cavic\u2019s disqualification from the remainder of the meet.<\/p>\n

Because he held dual citizenship between the United States and Serbia, Cavic had the choice of which nation to represent on the international stage. Undoubtedly, Serbia was the easier path. With the United States unmatched in its top-end talent and depth, qualifying for international competitions is viewed as difficult as competing in the international meet itself. By representing Serbia, Cavic avoided the grind faced by American swimmers.<\/p>\n

$\"Milo-Cavic-Race\"$ <\/p>\n

The 100 butterfly final in Beijing took place on Aug. 16. While Phelps was taking part in his 16th race, it was only Cavic\u2019s fourth. Earlier in the week, Cavic posted the sixth-fastest time in the preliminaries of the 100 freestyle, a Serbian record of 48.15, but withdrew from the event before the semifinals in order to preserve energy for the 100 butterfly. Cavic\u2019s only other races were the prelims and semifinals of the butterfly, both of which resulted in the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder posting the fastest time of the round.<\/p>\n

The buzz in the Water Cube before the final was at one of its highest levels of the week, the spectators well aware of what they were about to witness. They knew Phelps was at his most vulnerable, and knew a Phelps victory would give him seven gold medals, tying the record achieved by Mark Spitz<\/strong> at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Many Olympic experts believed Spitz\u2019s record would never be touched, particularly with the sporting world more-well-rounded.<\/p>\n

During introductions, both men showed little emotion. Cavic was in Lane Four and let out a few exhales as the television cameras followed his moves. Phelps, in Lane Five, maintained his typical routine, listening to music until his name was announced. They briefly looked at each other before climbing atop their blocks, but nothing was said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost guys are trembling when they have to step up to Michael Phelps,\u201d said Gary Hall Jr.<\/strong>, the 10-time Olympic medalist who once trained with Cavic at The Race Club.\u201d But (Cavic) did not fear him, and it showed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As expected, Cavic bolted to the front of the field off the blocks, surfacing ahead of Phelps. The Serbian continued to pour it on over the first lap, turning in a time of 23.42, well under world-record pace. In the adjacent lane, Phelps was lagging behind. He touched the wall in 24.04 at the midway point, placing him seventh and about a half-body length behind Cavic.<\/p>\n

Using one of his patented powerful turns, Phelps cut into his deficit at the beginning of the second lap but was still trailing Cavic by a noticeable margin. Even as he picked off other swimmers between the 50-meter and 75-meter marks, there was a question as to whether he would get to Cavic. In the media section overlooking the pool, there was a tangible sense that history was coming to a close. The closer the race came to the finish, the greater the probability of a Phelps loss.<\/p>\n

$\"Phelps-2014\"$ As Phelps and Cavic neared the wall for the finish, Cavic still maintained a clear edge. But on the finish, Cavic glided to the wall while Phelps took an extra half-stroke, an intuitive move which was not part of his normal routine. On most occasions, Phelps would glide to the wall, too, or get to the wall with a perfectly measured stroke. In this instance, something told him to go with a half-stroke. It proved to be a maneuver of genius.<\/p>\n

When the final results flashed on the giant scoreboard, the Water Cube erupted. The spectators, already standing, roared their approval when it was revealed Phelps was timed in 50.58, to the 50.59 of Cavic. Somehow, Phelps had won his seventh gold medal. It was an improbable triumph and simply added another chapter to Phelps\u2019 legend. How did he pull it off?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I did chop the last stroke, I thought that had cost me the race,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cBut it was actually the opposite. If I had glided, I would have been way too long. I took short, faster strokes to try to get my hand on the wall. I ended up making the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n