Phelps cuts it too fine for coach's comfort

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Michael Phelps's close-run victory in the 100m butterfly made for great drama at the Water Cube on Saturday, but coach Bob Bowman could have done with a little less excitement.

"On the turn, I thought, 'Man, you are a little far back,'" Bowman said, adding that in his ideal scenario Phelps would have split 23.something seconds for 50m.

"When it was 24.04, I thought that might be OK. I didn't know at that point he was seventh," Bowman said.

Coming home, Bowman said: "He was moving up quickly, then I guess he was inching, but I wasn't sure he was going to get it."

In fact, Phelps barely did, throwing in a desperate finishing half-stroke that carried him past Serbia's Milorad Cavic by one-hundredth of a second.

"It evened up at...