Phelps has swim passion back for London

9 Feb 2012, 1:49 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Michael Phelps says he has the passion back for swimming as he eyes more Olympic history in London.

Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps says he's regained his passion for the sport he dominated in dazzling style at Beijing and is eager to shine again at the London Games.

Phelps on Wednesday graded himself at "seven out of ten" in his preparations -- a big improvement over 2011 but still with "a lot of things that need to change" before the Olympics start on July 27.

"I'm excited. It's the most excited I've been since going to Beijing," said the 26-year-old Phelps.

Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the 2008 Games to take his career total to 14 Olympic golds and two bronze.

In London, an in-form Phelps could surpass the record of 18 Olympic medals won by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina in three Games -- 1956, 1960 and 1964.

"It's crazy because I didn't even know until a week ago when somebody just told me," said Phelps, adding that, as always, he will be working toward the personal goals he has established for himself -- not the record books.

"If I can accomplish these goals, I'm satisfied," he said. "It's not about the medals and the records, it's about 'Did I do everything that I put my mind up to do?'"

Those precise goals, like the exact list of events he will aim for in London, remain private, shared only with his longtime coach, Bob Bowman.

"I know what I want to do, but nobody else can know it," he said. "There's only really one person that ever knows my goals and it's my coach. My mom doesn't even know. We are very secretive," he said with a laugh.

On Sunday Phelps plans to head to a three-week training camp in Colorado Springs. June will bring the all-important US Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska.

"Everything can happen," Phelps said. "The only thing I'm looking to do is to try to prepare myself as best as I can for that moment and that day."

At the time of the Beijing Olympics Phelps said he wanted to raise the profile of swimming and he did -- but the massive attention proved a double-edged sword when a British tabloid published a photo of him appearing to smoke marijuana.

As the Beijing glow faded, he struggled to find the motivation to train.

"It probably took two, two and half years to find it, and it's hard to put the finger on exactly what it was," Phelps said. "There was no passion involved, there was no excitement."

Something clicked, Phelps said, at last year's World Championships in Shanghai.

"Something relit the fire and I was able to get motivated, to get ready," he said.

While 2012 has seen a surge of comeback attempts by veteran swimmers, including Australian Ian Thorpe and American Janet Evans, Phelps definitely sees London as his Olympic swansong.

"It's a good feeling but it's a weird feeling," he said. "But I'm ready to take the next step, try a couple of other goals I have out of the pool."

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