Michael Phelps focuses on record haul in the pool

By Steve Keating

DETROIT (Reuters) - For nine days next month the futuristic Water Cube will be the focus of the Beijing Games as spectators and a worldwide television audience count down Michael Phelps's bid to win a record eight gold medals.

The American swimmer will come under the type of crushing scrutiny only a very few athletes, such as golfer Tiger Woods or Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, have experienced.

Four years ago at the Athens Olympics, Phelps got a taste of the pressure that awaits when his assault on Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Games ended with number six.

While the mission remains unchanged, expectations have grown over four years of mounting hype.

Even so, the 23-year-old Phelps believes he is now better prepared to tackle the challenge and will have an army of handlers, U.S. sports officials and perhaps even bodyguards to ensure distractions are kept to a minimum.

"Last time I was a deer in the headlights, I had never gotten that much attention from the media," said Phelps at the U.S. trials. "I'm more relaxed now than I was in 2004.

"Going through everything in the last four years it's helped me prepare better for the Games coming up.

"I think I am more relaxed now than I was four years ago. The more relaxed I am, the better I am.

"When I walk into a final like here or the Olympic Games I walk in very focused. I don't mess around, I don't joke around, my mind is focused on job I have to do.

"It's just easy for me to do that, I don't know why. It's just easy for me to focus on the race and the job."

SAME ROUTINE

Phelps is known for his laser-like focus and utter disdain for losing.

A creature of habit, he goes through a pre-race routine honed from more than a decade of competition.

Before each race, he arrives at the pool at the same time, does the same stretches in the same order and, uniquely, steps on to the starting blocks from the left side.

"I noticed the first time I saw him swim, I think he was 10, it was just apparent he was just going to do whatever it took. When he swam you could see that kind of intensity," said Phelps's long-time coach Bob Bowman.