Spitz’s absence shows his enormous ego

BEIJING – He should be here. The most famous Olympic record is likely to be broken in one day, and if it is the man who held it for 36 years should be cheering from the stands, waiting for the chance to give a congratulatory handshake to his fellow American.

Mark Spitz is not coming. Spitz said this week it would be “demeaning” for him to come here and do anything less than present Michael Phelps with his eighth gold medal. But the truth is, he is letting his Olympic-sized ego dampen the biggest moment of these Games.

Spitz insisted he “never got invited,” as if he needed the International Olympic Committee to roll out the red carpet to have him here. The truth is this: Mark Spitz wanted this moment to be about Mark Spitz, and by staying away, he is tarnishing his own reputation.

“You don’t go to the Olympics just to say, ‘I am going to go.’ Especially because of who I am,” Spitz, now 58, told a French wire service. “I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That’s almost demeaning to me. It is not almost – it is.”

So the chase moves on without him, and in truth, nobody in USA Swimming is missing him too much. Phelps certainly isn’t. He won his seventh gold medal of these games this morning in the 100-meter butterfly, tying Spitz for the most in one Olympiad.

His sixth win, in the 200 individual medley, was supposed to be another dangerous race, with teammate Ryan Lochte “coming on like a freight train” in Phelps’ eyes, but Phelps beat his friend to the wall again. He set a world record again, this time shaving more than a half second off it with his time of 1 minute, 54.23 seconds.

It was thought that Ian Crocker, another U.S. teammate, might stop him in the 100 butterfly, but that didn’t happen. The 4x100 relay team could falter in the final and deny him No. 8. That’s hard to imagine after watching Phelps swim in his first seven events. He is performing on another level now, one that only one swimmer in the world can truly understand.

That swimmer is Spitz, who is too busy trying to hold up his own accomplishments against what Phelps is doing to say so. “I won seven events,” Spitz told AFP. “If they had the 50m freestyle back then, which they do now, I probably would have won that, too.

“He’s almost identical to me. He’s a world-record holder in all these events, so he is dominating the events just like I did. He reminds me of myself.”

These comments, more than any other, irked U.S. swimming officials. Nearly everyone agrees that what Phelps is doing now, against a higher level of competition and with much more intense scrutiny, is more impressive than what Spitz did in 1972. Even if Spitz disagrees, this is the time for graciousness and humility, to pass the baton and do it proudly.

Spitz should have no misgivings about Phelps, who has handled himself humbly and respectfully during this chase. Spitz heaped praise on the 23-year-old phenom during the U.S. trials in Omaha, Neb., last month, saying Phelps “showed a different kind of courage than I did.”

His attitude has changed since then, which comes as little surprise to coaches and officials in USA Swimming. Spitz has often put his ego before the organization. “His time is gone,” one assistant coach, Jon Urbanchek, said bluntly, and not making the trip to Beijing won’t cause any goodwill.

Phelps is already the face of swimming and will be for a long time. He should learn from the man he will likely surpass that his role as an ambassador to swimming will be nearly as important in shaping his legacy as these nine days in Beijing.

Spitz should be here in that role. He should be cheering from the crowd, not complaining from afar. The most famous Olympic record is on the verge of being broken, but the man who set it 36 years ago is letting his Olympic-sized ego stand in the way of a great American moment.