Michael Phelps

Super-swimmer Michael Phelps returned to big-time advertising Sunday with a TV spot for Subway titled "Be Yourself." Oh, the irony. Surely Phelps -- 14-time Olympic gold medalist and endorsement juggernaut -- was being only himself, only human, when he was photographed in November hitting a bong at a party at the University of South Carolina.

Swimmer Michael Phelps, who has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history, acknowledged Sunday he had engaged in "regrettable" behavior and shown "bad judgment" after a photo of him smoking what appears to be marijuana from a glass pipe was published in a British tabloid over the weekend.

Michael Phelps has a fresh, purple scar on his right wrist and purposeful sincerity about his intentions to, as he says, "not mess up anymore." Phelps, 22, who stamped himself as perhaps the greatest swimmer ever last summer when he won seven gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, has entered nine events this weekend at the Toyota Southern California Grand Prix at the Belmont Plaza Olympic pool in Long Beach.

Michael Phelps won two of the three events he swam Monday night at the Toyota Southern California Grand Prix at the Belmont Plaza Olympic pool in Long Beach. More important to the man who aims to win eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics is that he swam faster times than he did in this meet a year ago. Phelps won the 100-yard butterfly in 45.40 seconds. Last year he swam it in 46.05. He won the 100-yard backstroke in 45.50 seconds and last year he swam it in 45.90.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The window of high-tech opportunity will close in about two weeks, so Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol opted to wiggle through it and squeeze into the news-making Speedo LZR Racer on Sunday. It's no small issue. Not only are they world-record holders, but the two Austin, Texas-based swim stars happen to be high-profile Nike endorsers. Despite this, Nike has given them permission to test other suits in May.

OMAHA -- Behind the curtain of a random-looking decision was a logical plan. Michael Phelps pulled out of the final of the 200-meter freestyle Saturday night at the Swimvitational at the Qwest Center after swimming the event in the morning preliminaries. But that was no last-minute whim. Phelps did so to give himself a better shot in the 100 backstroke and maybe even send a message to Austin, Texas, and rival Aaron Peirsol in his last significant meet before the U.S. Olympic trials.

OMAHA -- Another swim meet, another storm. Earlier this month, when many of the top American swimmers were here for the Swimvitational in a final tune-up for the U.S. Olympic trials, a tornado had whipped through Omaha in the early morning hours. Warning sirens went off and the swimmers huddled in the hotel basement.

For most of his life, Michael Phelps has had little interest in self-reflection. Occasionally, though, when he is away from the swimming pool and when he is bored, he will type his name into Google images and stare at snapshots people have taken of him over the years. It is not an exercise in vanity. He likes to think about who he was in that brief and frozen moment. "There are some after races where I like how intense I look," he says.

BEIJING -- Sorry, this is no Mozart versus Salieri duel in the pool -- though Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are no strangers to producing international classics. They get along well, so much so that when Lochte said he wanted to give Phelps grillz for his birthday on June 30 during the U.S. Olympic trials, it was misinterpreted in some quarters as girls. Frankly, girls made more sense than urban teeth bling.

You may not be that familiar with Ryan Lochte, but he's the best swimmer in the world whose name is not Michael Phelps. Talk about bad luck; if he'd been born at a slightly different time he would be a swimming superstar. Instead he's known as the guy who finishes second to Phelps. With swimming starting today in Beijing, it seemed like a great time to assess their rivalry. And, if you miss the qualifiers in the 400 IM, the main event, the final, is Sunday in prime time (7 p.m. PDT).