Michael Phelps withdraws from the 200 metre individual medley at the Pan Pacific Championships
The sports analysts and Michael’s fans were taken aback by the announcement made by Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman that Michael Phelps will not be part of the 200 metre individual medley on the Saturday evening on 21st of August in an event of Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California. Michael Phelps made the decision to pull out the 200 metre individual medley because he wanted to conserve energy for his butterfly leg in the 4 into 100 metre relay medley.
The seasoned coach, Bob Bowman, said that the decision of withdrawal from the event was the product of mutual consent between him and Phelps. He also said the decision was made because Phelps told him that he was feeling low on energy for the medley. During the press conference in which Michael Phelps absence at the 200 metre IM was announced, Bob added that Phelps will definitely take part in the 4 into 100 metre relay medley that night. Phelps’ arch rival Ryan Lochte was disappointed at this announcement. Talking to the correspondents after he won the 200 metre IM meet, he said that if Phelps was competing against him he would have been able to break his own world record in the event. Lochte finished the race 10 seconds beyond his world record set last year in this particular event.
Bob Bowman said that in order to win the individual medley, a swimmer needs to have three really good swims, which he and Phelps both thought that Phelps was lacking at that time. Bob reassured that Phelps will never let his team down and he will do a great job at the medley relay with his butterfly leg. After the arduous swim in the 400 metre freestyle relay the night before, Bob could tell that Phelps was not in the state to give double performances the same night. Since, the medley relay was more important than the individual event, Phelps decided to opt out of the individual meet. Michael Phelps’ confidence was shaky that day and so Bowman was asked if Phelps was just hesitating to be a part of the race because of Ryan Lochte who has previously defeated Michael in the 200 metre individual medley at the Nationals and who managed to take away five gold medals while Michael was able to win four before this individual medley at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in California. Bob gave a negative answer to this question and said that Phelps might be disappointing his fans down by not participating in this event but he thinks he has a bigger responsibility of not letting his team members down in the 4 into 100 metre relay medley. He further added that it is not the fear of losing that is keeping him from swimming in the 200 metre individual medley, but it is just that he is not in the appropriate condition to do that. The athlete has fallen short of stamina due to the long stretches of break that he took over the winter and fall seasons.
Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps were spotted laughing and talking while standing at the medal stand after the 400 metre freestyle relay medley that ended the previous night. When asked what the athletic duo was joking about, Lochte revealed that they were laughing on the intense competition that will be experienced by both the swimmers in the 200 metre individual medley. That is the reason why Lochte talked about Phelps’ withdrawal from the event after he became the quickest qualifier in the 200 metre individual medley heats on Saturday morning.
Showing his concerns over the withdrawal of his favourite competitor in the pool, Lochte said that he was upset at Michael’s absence since both the gold medallists were looking forward to the event. He further added that Phelps is rightly a swimmer and he loves to swim and race. Lochte also hoped that Michael Phelps own reason to pull out of the race are good and everything is going fine with him.
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