Dressed in a pair of humble textile shorts while all around him wore shiny, plastic bodysuits, Michael Phelps found himself caught between a rock and a hard place in Manchester. That’s Michael Rock, an unheralded Manchester University law student.
Rock will forever be able to claim that he defeated the greatest Olympian of all time in his signature event.
Rock, or ‘Rocky’ as he is known by friends, delivered a stunning knockout blow to the mighty American, beating him by more than a second in the 200 metres butterfly to send spectators at the British Gas Duel in the Pool into a frenzy.
It was not enough to affect the overall result, with the Americans trouncing the European ‘E-Stars’ by 185 points to 78, but it provided a memorable moment for a young man whose only hope before the meet was to line up in the same race as the swimmer who has inspired him.
“We will, we will, rock you,” chanted a section of the sell-out crowd as a shocked-looking Phelps contemplated what must rank at one of the worst defeats of his career. It seemed an eternity before the American could even bring himself to shake the Liverpool-born swimmer’s hand.
Rock, who broke his own British record to win in 1 min 51.46 with Phelps second in 1 min 52.86 sec, is officially Britain’s fastest ever butterfly specialist, holding British records over 100m and 200m, both long and short course, though it is doubtful Phelps knew much about the 22-year-old when he examined the start list.
While Phelps’s curriculum vitae stretches to 14 Olympic gold medals, 28 world records and 33 world titles, Rock reached his first international final only this summer at the World Championships in Rome. He finished seventh in the 200m butterfly.
But before anyone gets too carried away with the magnitude of Rock’s achievement, some perspective is required.
In less than a fortnight’s time, the 100 per cent polyurethane bodysuits that have turned the international pecking order upside down will be outlawed. For most of the swimmers competing in Manchester, including Rock, the ‘Duel’ has represented the last hurrah for the super-suit.
Phelps, on the other hand, has stuck with the textile shorts that will become compulsory on Jan 1. After being beaten by plastic-coated rivals in this autumn’s World Cup series, yesterday provided another vivid illustration of the huge performance gains the bodysuits offer.
Rock, who trains nearby in Stockport, admitted it was a “strange feeling” to have beaten a swimmer he has always looked up to, though he said he would be treating it just a stepping stone to the future rather than an end in itself.
“It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever achieved, beating the Olympic champion, beating the greatest swimmer of our generation,” he said.
“It’s a very positive thing for me but I just see it as a step forward and hopefully I can build on this next year.”
As for the thorny issue of the suit, he said he would not be losing too much sleep about wearing an outfit that was still perfectly legal.
“It’s not every day that you beat Michael Phelps, so I’ll just cling on to that,” he said. “It’s a great experience for me and a great achievement. It will be a level playing field next year and I think that’s a great thing for the sport and hopefully I can carry on achieving great things.”
Phelps, whose disappointing day was compounded by a third-place finish in the 200m freestyle, put his defeat down to lack of preparation rather than the suit.
“I was beaten because he was more prepared than I was for this race,” said Phelps. “It wasn’t my best time and I think I can definitely go faster, but the race is over, he swam a better race than I did and he was more prepared.”
He added: “I’d rather lose races now than lose then when it really counts. The biggest thing I’m looking forward to are the World Championships in 2011 and the Olympics after that.
“If I can be prepared for those races, I’ll be fine. These are just little baby steps to the big picture.”
The result of the Duel had already been decided by the time Rock pulled off his epic victory, though at least the E-Stars were more competitive than on Friday when they managed just three wins in 14 races.
Yesterday there were half a dozen European triumphs, including a comfortable win for Rebecca Adlington in the 800m freestyle. There were also excellent wins for the second successive day for teenagers Fran Halsall in the 50m freestyle and Lizzie Simmonds in the 100m backstroke, James Goddard in the 200m individual medley and Italian Federico Colbertaldo.
After breaking five world records on the opening day, the Americans broke three more with Rebecca Soni clocking 1 min 2.70 sec in the 100m breaststroke, Julie Smit winning the 200m individual medley in 2 min 4.60 sec and the men’s 4x100m freestyle quartet clocking 3 min 3.30 sec. The final leg was swum by Phelps. He is not a man who likes to be upstaged.
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