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What makes Michael Phelps Win?
By Per Bristow | August 21, 2008
Well, we have certainly seen some remarkable athletic performances in the first week of the Olympics. To continue on the path from last post, a couple of examples of true competitors come to mind. How do you like these competitors?…
The Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who at the last Olympics 4 years ago lost his balance off the starting blocks and fell into the water too early. He had to return home without even having taken stroke. Can you imagine the feeling? Can you feel the embarrassment, the humiliation? You’ve worked and trained like crazy for the goal of coming to the Olympics and you fall into the water! Talk about losing.
Now 4 years later he’s back. And what happens. Yep, he wins the Olympic gold. How sweet is that?
Dara Torres, who makes a comeback at the age of 41 and gets to her 5th Olympics. It’s time for the semifinals of the 50m freestyle. The four best get to the finals. However, as all the swimmers are getting ready for the race, she walks up and talks to one of the officials. She then talks to the other swimmers. It turns out that one of her fierce competitors is having a problem with her swimsuit and Torres is asking everybody to hold the race. How’s that for sportsmanship? How’s that for loving your competitors? Is
And then we have Michael Phelps. His physical accomplishments are out of this world, but I am interested in the mental. It’s fascinating that he, like Michael Jordan and many others, actively search for anything thing bad that someone might have said about them. If someone says it can’t be done, they post the quote up on the wall in the bedroom. They feed off of it. What is also fascinating with these kinds of people is that nothing is ever over. In the famous 100m butterfly Michael Phelps is 7th at 50 meters. When it is 10 meters left he is still behind Milorad Cavic. Most people would settle for silver. Not Michael. Even being behind 2 meters from the finish there is no way his mind would go “it can’t be done”. In fact, in that moment there is no way he going to finish second. Whatever it takes he is going to be first. We saw one of the most furious finishes in history and he out-touches the guy by a fingernail. Was it luck? Hardly.
Is Milorad Cavic a loser? Hardly. Is he disappointed? Of course. But, like he said: “Finishing second to Michael Phelps isn’t all that bad”. And Cavic swam faster than he ever has.
Does Michael Phelps love Cavic? He’d better. It was Cavic who challenged Phelps to create the unbelievable feat the world just witnessed.
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Topics: Performance |
August 21st, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I just want to sing sweetly. What the Olympians’ stories tell me is that this may and probably will not happen the first time. Don’t give up keep trying. I will sing in tune in church for my Mom.
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I’ve always wondered before…pplz chopin and liszt, they’re crazy good pianist..they got famous since they were like..7 years old. did they just “have the talent” or worked really hard?
then stuff happened and i started to realize..talent=practice correctly+hard work
not ganna give up singing no matter how much my family hates me doing those weird vocal exercises…XD
August 27th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
This is a great way to learn and it makes total scence. Great job Per Bristow!
August 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Thanks Per. You need to blog more often! I love the comparisons you make with sports and singing/ Opens my mind every time. Makes so much sense.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Good article, except I have a couple of comments:
Not everyone, even with the right attitude and hard work, has the right body to become an olympic swimmer.
Not everyone, even with the right attitude and hard work, can expand their vocal range to sing a Tenor high C.
Having the right attitude and willingness to put in the time and effort to developing one’s vocal ability is great. However, if the physical structure of your voice is such that your natural limit is, say, a High B flat on a good day (rather than a C) then you are not going to be able to attain the High C.
My point here is that, when it comes to range, result will vary. It may be that Per’s results take his own voice up to a High D and beyond, and maybe Per has, say, a 3 octave range without using falsetto, but it doesn’t mean that everyone’s voice is going to develop the same amount of range, even with the same amount of effort and the same attitude. Unfortunately, all voices are not created equal when it comes to vocal range.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Great thoughts Jay.
I agree with your point that physically, there may be “limitations” that prevent us from being Michael Phelps but those limitations may be assets in another sport or another endeavor.
When it comes to singing, I believe an essential, vital part of singing is your passion, energy and desire to communicate the song’s message to your audience. Give me passion over technical perfection any day of the week.
One of my favorite singers is James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers. He has a great voice IMO but definitely has so much intensity and passion that you can’t help but listen to him. Same thing with people like Freddie Mercury. Even John Denver, beautiful voice that he had, was intense in a more subdued, less obvious way. Still, you knew he believed in what he sang and that he believed in his songs because of that passion.
It makes a huge difference in any performance.