Phelps Shows Mettle for This Marathon

The work of a lifetime.

He did it in barely an hour.

The work of three swimmers.

He did it alone.

Michael Phelps stepped on to a starting block for a U.S. Olympic swim trials final race Monday at 5:24 p.m.

He was beaten by a stroke. He was taunted by the winner. He was exhausted by the pace.

Thirty-one minutes later, he stepped on to a starting block for another Olympic trials final race.

He won by a mile. He trudged off the pool deck. He swallowed a can of Carnation Instant Breakfast.

Thirty-eight minutes later, he stepped on to the starting block for an Olympic trials semifinal race.

He won his heat. He didn’t smile. He looked as if he were lost. He walked as if he were 50.

“The hardest night I’ve ever had,” Phelps said.

The defining night of his journey.

If the sports world didn’t understand what he’s trying to do next month at the Athens Olympics, it does now.

If whiny, jealous teammates and competitors don’t appreciate the risk he is taking and pain he is absorbing in trying to equal Mark Spitz’ seven gold medals, they should now.

“I listen to people on ESPN who don’t understand swimming talk about him being a failure if he doesn’t get the seven gold medals, and I laugh,” said Tom Hannan, who finished fourth to Phelps in the 200 individual medley. “To just stand up and do this is just unreal.”

It will take a night like Monday, requiring effort and focus incomprehensible to many swimmers here at Long Beach.

It will take survival of a schedule that will be replicated on a day in Athens, a schedule so tight that Phelps was forced to blow off one medal ceremony while spending the entire night either in a pool, or stretched out on a deck, or simply burying his head in a wet towel.

“What we are trying to attempt, it isn’t going to be easy,” Phelps said with a little grin. “After five races, you begin to think about it.”

Yeah. Think about it.

In the time it would take some of us to squeeze into a pair of swimming trunks, Phelps qualified for his fourth and fifth Olympic individual events and set himself up for a sixth today.

“Some people spend their whole lives trying to make the Olympics in one event, and he qualifies for two in one night?” asked Hannan.

Resting only as long as it takes some of us to climb off the raft and run inside for another drink, Phelps finished second to world-record setting Aaron Peirsol in the 200 backstroke, easily won the 200 IM, and qualified second in the 100 butterfly.

Said Tim Liebhold, another medley victim: “After swimming one championship event with this kind of pressure, it usually takes me at least an hour.”

Added Hannan: “An hour? Sometimes it takes a full day.”

But with headphones filling his head with rap music, competitors filling his ears with trash talk, and history tugging at his lanky 19-year-old frame, Phelps survived.

“I thought I would be more tired than I am,” said the Baltimore native, his Oriole cap placed firmly on his head.

Maybe he’s not tired, but how about everybody else?

How about the judges who literally jogged down the pool deck while monitoring Phelps’ world-record duel with Peirsol, who celebrated afterward by pumping his fist and bouncing on the same lane line that Phelps was using to catch to breath. The two men didn’t shake hands afterward. The mind games seemed clear. But clearly they didn’t work.

“After that celebration, I was even more fired up,” said Phelps.

Maybe he’s not tired, but what about the trainers who spent the night pricking blood from his ear to test for lactic acid during his warm-down laps? The faster the acid disappears, the quicker he can return to the competition.

“I guess it goes out of him real quick,” said Liebhold. “But to understand his pain, and his ability change his focus so quickly on three completely different races, that’s what’s really impressive.”

Maybe he’s not tired, but surely his teammates will get tired of fretting about him.

Earlier in the day, a couple of swimmers complained that Phelps should not be allowed to participate on the 400 freestyle relay because he hasn’t swum a 100-meter time trial. U.S. men’s Coach Eddie Reese indicated it won’t be necessary.

“In my opinion, to be on the relay [Phelps] will have to prove himself,” said Jason Lezak.

Phelps has set a record for U.S. male swimmers by qualifying for five Olympic events. He could conceivably go to Athens with a chance at winning eight gold medals even without that last relay.

And he needs to prove himself?

Michael Jordan could skip shoot-arounds. Barry Bonds can skip batting practice. Michael Phelps can skip a time trial.

As he showed Monday, this journey toward gold isn’t about the medal, but the mettle.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. For more Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.