Safely ensconced in water, he is another animal, cutting gracefully through the pool like an amphibious mammal.
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This gift is clearly seen in his signature underwater turn, where he tends to go down deeper to the wall than other swimmers, performing a dolphin kick and rocketing back to the surface, often leaving the rest of the pack in his trail.
"Phelps has been using that as a weapon for a while," Russell Mark, biomechanics coordinator for USA Swimming, told Reuters this week at Beijing's Water Cube venue.
"Logic should say he shouldn't go down deep, but he beats people off that last wall. There is nothing scientific yet to explain why it is effective to take that trajectory."
Is Phelps the greatest Olympian? Have your say!
Did you know? Phelps hung a poster of Ian Crocker above his bed after his team mate beat him at the 2003 World Championships to help motivate him for Athens.
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