Olympics-Swimming-Focus, fitness, physique propel awesome Phelps

By Crispian Balmer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Michael Phelps was just 11 when his coach Bob Bowman called in his parents for a serious talk about their son's future. He told them the boy could become an Olympic champion if he just applied himself.

At a very young age it was clear that Phelps, who on Wednesday became the first Olympian to win 11 career gold medals, was destined for great things.

"It was mainly his physical talent and real competitiveness that stood out," Bowman told Reuters, recalling what had caught his eye in his mischievous charge.

Looking at him today, Bowman said Phelps has managed to move beyond great and become a once-in-a-lifetime athlete thanks to his mental strength.

"A number of things make him the swimmer he is, but I think it is largely psychological. He can relax and focus on what he is doing when under pressure and actually, this sort of environment makes him perform better," Bowman said.

"That is highly unusual."

In truth, there are many unusual things about Phelps that have combined to produce the greatest swimmer ever.

Seeing him up close as he emerges dripping from the pool, the first thing that strikes you is his physique.

He has the outline of a cartoon superhero, with broad shoulders and a huge torso tapering down to small hips and strikingly short legs -- a combination that provides minimum resistance beneath the waterline.

BIG PADDLES

Unlike most people, he also has an extraordinarily long arm reach, with his arm span some 3 inches (7.6 cm) longer than his 6 ft 4 inch height. This effectively means he has extra longer "oars" to propel a shorter body through the water.

Perfectly formed for the pool, he looks less assured on dry land, occasionally stumbling and knocking into things. Indeed last year, he broke his wrist trying to stop himself falling, briefly putting his Olympic adventure in jeopardy.

"He was always a big string bean and he was very awkward," his mother, Debbie, told reporters in Beijing this week.

Safely ensconced in water, he is another animal, cutting gracefully through the pool like an amphibious mammal.

This gift is clearly seen in his signature underwater turn, where he tends to go down deeper to the wall than other swimmers, performing a dolphin kick and rocketing back to the surface, often leaving the rest of the pack in his trail.