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2016 Rio Olympics: Michael Phelps trying to make history

By The Sports Xchange
U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps attends a welcome ceremony at the White House in Washington on September 14, 2012. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI
U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps attends a welcome ceremony at the White House in Washington on September 14, 2012. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials get underway in Omaha, Neb., on Sunday with hundreds competing -- including swimming legend Michael Phelps -- over the eight-day meet for the 52 spots on the team going to the Rio Games.

Phelps, an 18-time Olympic gold medalist (22 total medals), is trying to become the first male swimmer to make five U.S. Olympic teams.

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The 30-year-old Phelps swam three world-best times in 2015 (in the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley). This year, he has been fourth fastest in the world in the 200 IM.

Phelps is entered in those three events at the trials, as well as the 100 and 200 freestyle.

Phelps told reporters during a news conference Saturday that the Trials are a pressure-packed challenge for the swimmers, including himself.

"I think for us being as strong of a swimming country as we are, I think there's probably more pressure at Trials than the Games," Phelps said. "You know, we have almost 2,000 people here, and a maximum of 52 will make the team, so it's a pretty small chance, and we could probably send people to the Olympics that could get third, and we could go one, two, three, you know, so we have that kind of depth, I think, in our sport here in the country.

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"So it is challenging, and I think just this is more pressure and more excitement here, and I don't want to say more excitement, but more pressure here than the Olympics for sure. It's harder here."

Phelps said he is looking forward to the challenge over the next week.

"Nobody is a shoe-in and nobody is a lock," Phelps said. "We've seen that a number of times in the sport, and, you know, I think just being able to get up that day and do something is what we have to do to make the team, and sometimes it's challenging. So it doesn't matter if I was the best of the best in the best shape possible, still just getting on that team is something that we all want here."

Phelps was asked about the difference now compared to his first Trials in 2000.

"I think the sport has changed a lot, and it's going in the direction that I love, being able to have you guys here and wanting to cover us, I think it's something that we're very thankful for, you know, watching the sport take off from 2000 until what it is today," Phelps said. "It's a significant change, but I think for me there's still more. Do I know what that is right now? No. But I still feel that we can do more to promote this sport, even to another level than where we are right now. And, you know, for me I'm a very goal-oriented person, and I will go down swinging until the day I die to continue to try to change this sport, to take it to a higher level."

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Phelps talked about the birth of his first child, a son. Phelps and his fiancee, Nicole Johnson, welcomed Boomer Robert Phelps on May 5.

"Fatherhood has been awesome," Phelps said. "You know, it's still crazy. When I'm holding him or laying on the couch with him, it's just awesome being able to welcome a new person into this world, and Nicole and I couldn't be happier. ... So it's been a really fun journey over the last couple of years, and a journey that I think has made me the person who I am and helped me transform to me just being me.

"I think that's the best thing about the journey that I've been on, and it's been an exciting one. Nicole and I are so stoked. I get 30 photos a day when I'm out of town. I think I might have to just get a new phone to hold all the memory for the photos. It's fun watching him grow up, like I've already -- he's only seven weeks, but I feel like just watching him gain weight and grow hair and see his eyes start to change color. I think that's just something that I've never experienced that, you know, to me is just awesome."

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Other American swimmers to watch at the Trials include:

--Katie Ledecky burst onto the scene when she took won 800-meter freestyle at the London Games for first Olympic gold medal at age 15. Since then, Ledecky, now 19, has never lost an international race, winning 14 gold medals at the 2013 and 2015 world championships and 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.

--Ryan Lochte, 31, has competed in six world championships and three Olympic Games, winning medals every time. He is bidding to add to his collection of 11 Olympic medals (five golds).

--Missy Franklin won five medals, four of them gold, at the 2012 Olympics. She followed up with six gold medals at 2013 worlds and has finished two years of college at the University of California at Berkeley. Franklin, 21, will swim in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, and the 100 and 200 freestyle.

--Stanford stars Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado are expected to contend in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the 200 and 400 IMs, respectively.

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