Phelps leads USA into World Swimming Championships

INDIANAPOLIS -- Michael Phelps wants his shoulders to hurt.\nHe's ready to put the weight of American swimming on his back, and carry it into the spotlight as a mainstream sport. \n"I want to be able to change the sport of swimming, in and out of the pool," Phelps said.\nAfter taking home eight medals -- six gold and two bronze -- in Athens, Greece last month, this weekend will be his chance to bring attention to American swimming.\nIndianapolis plays host to the 7th FINA World Swimming Championships beginning today and ending Monday at Conseco Fieldhouse, bringing the event to American soil for the first time. \nSwimming in a portable 25-meter short course pool built on top of the Indiana Pacers basketball court, Team USA will feature 28 swimmers who made the trip to Greece, including Amanda Beard, Lindsay Benko, Natalie Coughlin, Ian Crocker and Aaron Peirsol. \nDespite the strong arsenal of American swimmers, the spotlight is focused on Phelps, who missed out on his bid to tie and break IU alum Mark Spitz's Olympic record of seven gold medals, but said the comparisons are an honor in itself.\nSwimming less than an hour away from where Spitz made his mark as a Hoosier, Phelps will have at least six opportunities to swim in front of the hometown Hoosiers.\n"There have been so many comparisons," Phelps said. "It's such an honor to be compared to such a swimming icon."\nThis weekend, Phelps will swim in the 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly, 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley and the 800-meter free relay. \nOvershadowed by Phelps' spotlight is 31-year-old Jenny Thompson.\nThe four-time Olympian and eight-time gold medalist is swimming in the last meet of her career. Before the Stanford grad continues her education in medical school at Columbia University, Thompson will give it one more go in Indianapolis -- the site of her first international competition in 1987.\n"Indianapolis is the first place I knew as an international swimmer," she said. "I still sort of hold that wonder and awe that I had when I was at the Pan-Am Games when I come here."\nThis weekend will be the first swimming world championships to be held in an NBA arena, and Elkhart, Ind., native Benko knows how Hoosiers react to the hardwood, and hopes the respond the same way to the pool.\n"If swimming in Indiana is like basketball in Indiana, the crowd will definitely be here to support us," she said. \nThe pool which took from Sept. 22 until Monday to construct, is a 25-meter pool, half the distance of the Athens' pools, which causes some concerns for Team USA, which is used to the 50-meter, Olympic-sized long course pools. \nShort course's require speed and more turns, which Phelps said isn't one of his strong suits.\n"I'm more of a long course swimmer," he said. "Short courses require more turns, which is not my forte."\nBeard, the American swimmer who has been featured in FHM and MAXIM magazines, proves that height doesn't matter in short or long courses. \nThe 5-foot-8 Beard is eight inches shorter than the 6-foot-4 Phelps, but still considers the long courses her better distance.\n"For swimmers, long course and short course are totally different," Beard said. "I am better at long course because I am not as strong, so it will definitely be a challenge."\nWith just more than five weeks since the conclusion of the Athens' games, the international scene is lacking their superstar, Australian Ian Thorpe, in Indianapolis.\nBesides the Americans, none of the men's international gold medalists in the major events made the trip to Indianapolis. The American women will be taking on the likes of Camelia Potec of Romania, Xuejuan Luo of China and Ukraine's Yana Klochkova. \nWhen Monday comes, not only will Phelps be able to head back to his home in Baltimore to sleep in his bed for the first time since July 2, but teammate Peirsol relishes the chance to relax.\n"It is definitely more mentally tough than physical," Peirsol said. "After this meet, we will all get a chance to rest."\n-- Contact senior writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu