Michael Phelps to make return at Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  Normally, the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix is a pretty tame affair. But when Michael Phelps announced that the UltraSwim, which begins today, would be his first meet since he won eight gold medals in Beijing -- and the first meet since his three-month suspension for being photographed with a bong -- normal and tame got tossed right out the window.

About 85 reporters from around the world, according to USA Swimming, squeezed inside the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Thursday to hang on every word Phelps had to say about his return to competitive swimming. The 23-year-old Phelps reiterated that he has no idea how he’ll swim this week, just that he’s looking forward to the challenge of swimming shorter distances. Asked if he thinks the public has forgiven him for what he described as “inappropriate behavior,” Phelps simply shrugged. “It was bad judgment and a very stupid mistake. It’s something I’ve already learned from and something I’ll continue to learn from. Hopefully I can help people never make the same mistake.”

Phelps joked that he’s been doing news conferences like this for so long that they’ve simply become a part of what he considers “normal life.” The months following Beijing have been “crazy” and “unreal,” but that he believes the next three years will be more fun than the previous eight have been.

A few things will be different in this meet. He’ll swim the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly on Friday, the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke on Saturday, and the 100-meter freestyle on Sunday. Just two of those events, the 100 butterfly and the 200 freestyle, were part of his Beijing program. He’s also been working on a freestyle stroke that requires a faster tempo, and he’s been lifting weights harder than he ever did in the past.

Earlier this week, Phelps described himself as being in “semi-shape,” a term that made his coach Bob Bowman chuckle somewhat. Bowman estimates he’s been coaching at about 50% intensity lately, something Phelps has been grateful for.

This is just the beginning of a long journey with the focus on the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in early July and the FINA World Championships in Rome later that same month. What happens right now matters little. There is a good chance -- both Phelps and Bowman concede -- that someone will beat Phelps in an event this weekend. “I like it when he gets beat because it gives me all kinds of ammunition in practice,” Bowman said. “I have no expectations this week. Whatever he does, that’s what we’ll start with.”

Some things, though, will be the way they’ve always been.

“I’m approaching this meet just like I’ve approached every other meet I’ve ever swam in,” Phelps said. “I’ll just get up and swim and see what happens. This is one of the things that I do pretty well is prepare myself for a meet. I’m sticking with what works.”

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kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com