Another Michael set to make splash at Mesa Grand Prix - NBCSports.com
Michael Andrew has drawn a wave of comparisons to Michael Phelps , for breaking so many national age group records he’s lost count and for signing an endorsement deal last year at age 14, becoming the youngest professional swimmer in U. S. history. Andrew’s common reply, respectfully, is that he doesn’t want to be the next Michael Phelps. USA Swimming later published what are called “psych sheets,” which list all swimmers entered for every event, in order of “seed time,” which essentially ranks them going into preliminary heats. Below is the psych sheet for the 50m freestyle, one of three events Phelps entered and one of nine events Andrew entered. Phelps rarely swam the 50m freestyle before his 2012 retirement, so he is seeded fairly low, 25th. That’s one spot lower than Andrew, whose seed time is. 01 of a second faster than the most decorated Olympian of all time. Initially, Andrew was seeded 25th and Phelps 26th, which SwimSwam. However, a swimmer seeded 21st since scratched, moving Andrew into a different heat than Phelps and depriving swim geeks and photographers of up-close comparisons. Andrew, who turned 15 last Friday, could still see Phelps in Arizona. Andrew said he can only remember being next to Phelps once before, at a “Swim with the Stars” clinic. Source: olympictalk.nbcsports.com
