"I swam blind for 175 metres out of a 200 fly" - When Michael Phelps broke world record in 2008 Olympics despite water entering his goggles
Michael Phelps is one of the most legendary swimmers to have graced the pool. The most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps has certainly made his mark on the sport.
One such incident, when the American proved the extent of his skills in the pool, came at the 2008 Olympics. While in Beijing, Michael walked away with an astounding 8 gold medals. But the journey to get there wasn't easy. Going into the 200m butterfly finals, he was the favorite to win the race.
However, catastrophe struck for the Flyish Fish just a little into the race, when his goggles started to fill with water. At 25 meters, Michael Phelps had no visibility left.
While some might have panicked, Phelps proved exactly why he's the best as he kept his cool and walked away from the water with not only a gold medal, but also a world record to his name. He achieved this amazing feat by counting his strokes to keep track of where he was in the pool.
Recounting the incident at a Forbes 30 under 30 summit, Michael attributed his success, at the Beijing Olympic 200m butterfly, to the visualizing powers he had achieved after years of intent practice.
"I was taught at a very young age just to visualize. So for me it was visualizing a race. It's how I wanted it to go, how I didn't want it to go, and how it could go. So, in 2008, when my goggles filled up with water, I was relaxed, because I was reverted back to what I did in training. I swam blind for 175 meters out of a 200 fly, won gold and broke the world record."
Michael Phelps' dream run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Michael Phelps, nicknamed the "Baltimore Bullet", entered the Beijing Olympics on the back of his immense success in 2004 Athens.
In Beijing, he added 8 more gold medals to his collection. His unbeaten run at the 2008 Olympics saw Phelps break the record for most first-place finishes at the Olympics, previously held by American Mark Spitz.
Not only did he win a gold in every event he participated in, Michael Phelps also broke the world record in 7 events during his time at Beijing.
With that legendary performance, the American further cemented his status as one of the best to ever do it. His Olympic records are untouched to this day, and many doubt if someone will be able to dominate a sport the way Phelps dominated swimming.