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August 14, 2004 10:38 pm

High noon for swimming's top guns

By NORM FRAUENHEIM

The Arizona Republic

ATHENS - It's on.

Swimming's first two gold medalists at the 2004 Olympics are about to confront each other, almost as if it had been planned.

Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe have been circling each other like wary sharks for months. There's Phelps, a bold 19-year-old American who doesn't know much history yet wants to challenge it anyway. And there's Thorpe, a 21-year-old Australian who has set some history of his own and is almost wary of all that it demands.

Two years, one very big ocean and a couple of thousand personality traits separate the two. But in the water, the difference figures to be an infinitesimal fraction of a second. Don't blink Monday. That's when one of them figures to place an early claim on the right to be the world's greatest swimmer. It's the 200-meter freestyle. But it's much more than that. There are two tidal waves of talent in this world's waters.

One is Thorpe.

The other is Phelps.

Both continued to gain momentum Saturday, with Phelps winning the 400 individual medley and Thorpe the 400 freestyle. If there's an edge, it is with Phelps, who broke his own world record at 4:08.26 in winning America's first gold of the Games and perhaps the first in his quest to equal, or even surpass, Mark Spitz' mark of seven gold in 1972. He made it look easy. Thorpe didn't. At 3:43.10, he was nearly three seconds off his world mark (3:40.59) as he battled silver medalist Grant Hackett (3:43.36), a fellow Aussie, and bronze medalist Klete Keller (3:44.11) of Phoenix through a tight race. This was the event that Thorpe failed to qualify for when he fell off the starting blocks in trials, but got in when teammate Craig Stevens gave up his own spot.

``I didn't swim the race well,'' said Thorpe, who trailed Keller at the 150-meter mark. ``No two ways about it. But I think my 200 will be much better.''

Preliminaries and semifinals in the 200 are scheduled for Sunday. Other players could get in the way of swimming's version of Frazier-Ali. There's Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband, who upset Thorpe four years ago at the Sydney Games. There's Hackett, the only man to beat Thorpe in the 200 since Hoogenband did it. And there's Keller, a dark horse who displayed some early speed that he didn't possess in winning bronze in four years ago.

``I'm older,'' said Keller, who lowered his own American record by .08 of a second. ``I've got some more muscle on my body. There's also not as much pressure on me in the 200. I won't be as scared.''

There's no fear and there's no sure winner, but it's safe to say that it will be a big upset if it isn't Thorpe or Phelps.

``I have a time in mind,'' said Phelps, who was more than three seconds ahead of fellow American and silver medalist Eric Vendt (4:11.81). ``I'm just going to go out and take care of business. One of the things I've wanted to do is race Thorpe before we're done. He's pretty much owned the event for the last couple of years.''

A transfer in ownership might be critical to Phelps' hopes at sharing history with Spitz. In addition to the 200 free, Phelps still has four individual events - the 200 individual medley, 200 butterfly and 100 fly.

He has a spot on the 800 free relay locked up as a result of his victory in the 200 at the Olympic Trials. And he figures to swim at least a preliminary leg - the butterfly - in the 400 medley relay.

But there continues to be uncertainty about the 400 free relay. Phoenix sprinter Gary Hall, Jr., says Phelps has locked up one of the four spots.

Hall, whose third-place finish in the 100 free at the U.S. trials puts him in contention for a spot, isn't happy about the possibility. But U.S. coach Eddie Reese isn't tipping his hand, at least not for the record. The four for Sunday's preliminary heats were still a mystery Saturday, even to Phelps.

After his victory, he told a crowd of media in the chaotic mix zone: ``One down and six to go.''

Phelps' personal coach, Bob Bowman, said Phelps wasn't thinking clearly amid all the emotions surrounding his first gold. A couple of hours later, however, Phelps hadn't changed his mind.

``It just depends,'' Phelps said of a relay that figures to produce some drama of its own in finals Sunday when the Americans attempt to regain the gold they lost for the only time in Olympic history in a second place finish to the Thorpe-anchored Aussies four years ago. ``As of right now, I have six more swims. As Eddie said, we want the fastest relay possible.

``He'll put the four fastest guys up there. That's all I know for sure.''That, and at least one impending showdown with Thorpe.

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