OMAHA, United States: Michael Phelps, aiming to add a fitting finale to his stunning Olympic career in Rio, will start this week with the familiar frenzy of the US Olympic swimming trials.
Even with 18 gold among his astonishing 22 Olympic medals, Phelps said Saturday that “nobody is a lock” to make the American team for Rio de Janeiro.
“More pressure here than the Olympics for sure,” Phelps said of the trials, where the top two in each individual event will make the team.
“It’s harder here. Nobody is a shoo-in and nobody is a lock.”
Phelps has come through four prior trials with flying colors, making his first Olympic team at the age of 15 in 2000.
There followed an eight-medal haul, including six gold, in Athens in 2004, and his zenith in Beijing 2008, where he won an unprecedented eight gold medals.
Along the way his cross-over appeal helped enable USA Swimming to transform the trials into what executive director Chuck Wielgus calls their Super Bowl — complete with 14,000-strong crowds at every session and on-deck fireworks.
