Michael Phelps has not tasted Olympic glory, but Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands says it’s coming for the 19-year-old American who wants to win eight gold medals in the 2004 Games.
Phelps needs to keep an eye on van den Hoogenband, 26, who stole the spotlight from Australia’s Ian Thorpe and Russia’s Alexander Popov in the 2000 Sydney Games by beating Thorpe in world-record time in the 200-meter freestyle and upsetting Popov in the 100.
Van den Hoogenband, Thorpe and Phelps are expected to meet in the final of the 200 next week in what some have deemed the “Race of the Century.” The loaded field also could include Australia’s Grant Hackett.
In a news conference Monday, Inge de Bruijn, the Netherlands’ top female swimmer who surprised with three gold medals four years ago, noted that van den Hoogenband “destroyed the party” in Sydney.
“It’s not crashing a party,” said Jacco Verhaeren, van den Hoogenband’s coach. “It’s making your own party. That’s what we’re here for.”
But van den Hoogenband and de Bruijn spent a large portion of their news conference discussing Phelps and his impact thus far on the Games. Both were complimentary of their sport’s current star.
“He can have all the attention,” van den Hoogenband said. “I’m not swimming the 400 IM so I’m not going to crash his party. It’s good for our sport to have many heroes. He’s one of them. It’s always nice to race great swimmers. It makes the race special.”
“He’s blown up swimming,” de Bruijn said. “I think it’s good for the sport.”
Phelps will race in the 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley, 200 butterfly, 4 x 200 freestyle relay, 200 IM, 100 fly, 4 x 100 medley relay and likely the 4 x 100 free relay. He holds world records in the 200 fly at 1 minute 53.93 seconds, the 200 IM at 1:55.94 and the 400 IM at 4:08.41.
“From the 100 fly to the 400 medley and everything in between, it’s quite amazing that nowadays we have a swimmer who can do this,” Verhaeren said. “He deserves all the attention.”
Phelps will have his hands full in the 200 freestyle. Thorpe is the current world record-holder, and van den Hoogenband appears relaxed and fit for his quest to repeat his championship.
“What makes the 200 even more special is that there are so many good swimmers involved in that race,” van den Hoogenband said. “It’s something extra.”
Like de Bruijn, van den Hoogenband’s talents were underrated in 2000. Both ended up basking in the spotlight.
With all the hype surrounding Phelps in these Games, it appears Olympic followers may again underestimate van den Hoogenband.
“I hope so,” he said.