"not so fast!"

While there is no doubting the greatness of Michael Phelps, it seems that everyone is willing to proclaim him the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. Well, in the words of a wise college football analyst with whom we're all about to reacquaint ourselves (Lee Corso), "not so fast my friends!"

Michael Phelps is truly an amazing athlete and a great competitor - I'm not now nor would I ever attempt to debate that. However, while he's on track to break Mark Spitz's record in spectacular fashion, he hasn't done it yet. Mark Spitz won 7 Olympic Gold medals in the same games while breaking 7 world records, and Phelps is on the verge of going 8 for 8. Honestly, I have no doubt that he'll do it (by the way, what is up with all the record-breaking times in the pool this year? There's something fishy with either the suits or the pool), and that may make him the greatest swimmer of all time.

There is some debate to that accolade. Swimming's marque event is the 100m freestyle. I'm aware that the butterfly, Phelps's signature stroke, may be the most difficult, but the freestyle is the equalizing stroke, and 100m is the defining distance. So, here's the problem - Michael Phelps doesn't swim the 100m freestyle. Also, in some of the relay events (and what is up with the excess of swimming relay races? To the best of my knowledge there's not a medley of sprinting, hurdling and steeple chase coming up next week.), he's not swimming the anchor leg, he's swimming the lead. Again, I know the lead leg is important; it's vital; it's more important than all legs, except the anchor.

Moreover, the marque event of the entire Olympic games is the 100m sprint on the track. It's the competition to see who is the fastest man alive. American Carl Lewis won the event at two separate Olympic games, in addition to 7 other Olympic Gold medals in other sprint events and in long jump - an event requiring very different training and skill than sprinting. Also, and perhaps more importantly, track is an accessible sport - anyone with two operable legs can conceivably train to be a runner. Swimming, like sports such as golf, tennis, hockey and others, is not universally accessible. Even in the United States, the schools that have pools or have access to pools are typically inhabited by white, affluent students. Conversely, almost all high schools have or have access to football fields with tracks, baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball gyms, etc.

Michael Phelps may have more Gold medals than Carl Lewis, and odds are in his favor that he'd do a better job singing the Star-Spangled Banner, but Lewis must still be considered the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. Phelps is dominant, he's amazing and he embodies greatness - it's been a pleasure to watch him (except for his strolling out for his events plugged into his ipod - that lacks professionalism), and I'm excited to watch more of him in the future, both this year and in 2012. But as great as he is, for my money, Carl Lewis is still the greatest Olympic athlete of all time (Although, even as I write this entry I find myself contemplating the factor of adversity and wanting to make a strong case for either Jesse Owens or Kerri Strug, but I digress...).