Swimming: Mike Cavic unplugged

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BEIJING -- Eloquent, provocative and thoughtful.

Serbia’s Milorad ‘Mike’ Cavic, who lost to Michael Phelps by the narrowest of margins (50.59 seconds to the American’s 50.58) had a tough act to follow after his stirring performance in the pool in the 100-meter butterfly. His own, that is.

The Anaheim-born, Orange County-raised swimmer was up to the challenge, summoning his inner Novak Djokovic in the biggest news conference of his career ... but more about that later.

You’ve got to go with the latest around here, and a few hours later, the newly minted silver medalist, Cavic, was up and running on his own official website.

He said he was not behind the protest of the race, that it came from the Serbian Olympic Committee:

‘Yes, as you all saw, I almost won the Gold, and if you ask me, the clock does not lie. I had nothing to do with this filing, and neither did my coach Mike Bottom.... I’ve accepted defeat, and there’s nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer there has ever been.’

-- Lisa Dillman