He’s One in $1 Million

You know you’ve become “Someone” when event organizers go to the trouble of hiring a decoy to fool the masses. Swim star Michael Phelps hit that rarefied rating in popularity on his just-completed trip to Australia.

Although his longtime coach, Bob Bowman, wasn’t sure if it was necessary to have a pseudo-Phelps clearing the way for the real Phelps -- it couldn’t have been easy to find a 6-foot-4, 195-pound fill-in with a suitably massive wingspan -- he shrugged and went along with the plan after a meet in Australia.

Actually, Phelps, 18, has been “Someone” for some time Down Under, which is only natural for a young man who is nearly the equal of Aussie idol Ian Thorpe in worldwide supremacy and reach. Still, all the camera crews at the airports and the photographers on the beach in Australia helped engineer something of a change in job description for his North Baltimore teammates.

“One of my friends from home looked at me and said, ‘I actually feel like an athlete now,’ ” Phelps said, smiling.

Said Bowman: “[There] it would be like he’s an NFL player or a pro basketball player.”

The scope of recognition was a bit different after a 14-hour-plus plane ride to Los Angeles from Sydney. Phelps was going through his second Sunday (because of the time difference), appearing at a function on behalf of Speedo, his sponsor, for the U.S. Olympic trials, which will be held next year in Long Beach, July 7-14.

Phelps wore a name tag as he patiently answered questions during roundtable sessions with media members during dinner, was coy about his trials program -- he won’t tell until July 7 -- and handed out his business card to the assembled reporters and editors.

If he isn’t quite “Someone” outside of Australia, Phelps is likely to be there by the time the swimming trials end in Long Beach and before the Olympics begin in Athens. He broke five world records in individual events at the world championships in Barcelona, Spain, last July, won five titles at the U.S. nationals, and won all six of his races in short-course competition at the recent meets in Australia.

The above-ground temporary pools for the Olympic trials will be constructed in the parking lot adjacent to Long Beach Arena, and officials thought it appropriate for Phelps to scrawl one of his world-record times in the parking lot Monday.

The problem: Which one?

Phelps has a menu of choices. He owns the world records in the 200-meter individual medley, the 400 IM and the 200 butterfly. His choice: the 400 IM -- 4 minutes 9.09 seconds.

His versatility has Phelps billed as the early face of the Athens Olympics and landing in the same sentence as swim legend Mark Spitz. Speedo recently put out a carrot -- a $1-million bonus -- should he equal Spitz by winning seven gold medals. The money is there should he do it at Athens in 2004 or at the 2008 Olympics.

“To have that amount of money up there is going to give you a little more incentive to get up every morning at 6,” Phelps said. “

“Don’t get me wrong. If I walk away with seven gold medals, I’m going to be very excited, but one is going to be plenty for me.”

If the money doesn’t sufficiently motivate him, Phelps always has Thorpe.

“When we were in Australia, Thorpe was quoted in the papers as saying seven gold medals is not possible, no swimmer in the world can accomplish that feat,” Phelps said. “Even if I can’t do that next year, going out and saying someone can’t do that, I think anyone can do whatever they want. If you keep your mind open, anything is possible.

“I had no idea I was going to go into nationals and break the world record in the [200] IM. One of my friends came the night before and said, ‘Should we come tomorrow?’ I said, ‘Nothing exciting is going to happen tomorrow. There’s no point in coming.’ ”

So much for his powers of prognostication.

Phelps is, however, masterful at finding sources of motivation. In the past, he has used the words of Australians -- namely swim coach Don Talbot and backstroker Matt Welsh -- who downplayed or underplayed his abilities. Phelps responded with his superlative showing in Barcelona, then defeated Welsh in the 200 backstroke in Australia.

But perhaps his current biggest font of inspiration is the image of a butterfly specialist from the University of Texas. Phelps’ only individual defeat in Barcelona was in the 100-meter butterfly to Ian Crocker, who took away his world record.

“When Swimming World [magazine] came out with him on the cover, I have the inside foldout in my room on the wall,” Phelps said. “When I wake up in the morning, I see that. Getting up at 6 in the morning is hard to do. Looking at that makes it that much easier.”

Second place is enormously distasteful, it seems, whether it’s in the pool or at the dinner table.