Phelps gives swimming window of opportunity

The Olympics are an opportunity for competitors in minor sports — those outside baseball, basketball and football — to bring their sports to the forefront of the world’s consciousness.

For two weeks, the world gets to learn about everything from archery to trampoline to wrestling. And no one has been more of an ambassador for his or her sport than American swimmer Michael Phelps.

With eight gold medals in Beijing, Phelps has won more gold at a single Olympics than any athlete before him. A few days of wowing us by plowing his muscular frame through the water in world-record fashion have taken Phelps from being what some us knew as a pretty good swimmer to rock-star status.

Earning about $5 million a year in endorsements before these Olympics, Phelps will leave Beijing with far more earning potential. Phelps’ agent has said his client could rake in “$100 million over the course of his lifetime.”

Phelps’ accomplishments and that kind of money will no doubt increase people’s awareness of swimming, one of the most demanding and beneficial of all aerobic exercises, at least for the short term. Phelps’ lasting appeal to mainstream sports fans — those who live for baseball, basketball and football — remains to be seen.

Phelps very well could end up like a David Beckham, the guy whose $250 million contract he received to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy hasn’t pushed soccer to the front burner of U.S. sports.

In the right now, though, Phelps will return to the U.S. known as well as athletes such as Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James and Peyton Manning. He will make the talk show rounds. We will see him on boxes of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes. We will flip and click by him in newspaper, magazine and Internet ads, and we will drive by him on billboards.

For those who champion swimming in the U.S., Phelps might very well be their splash of a lifetime. The cry for Americans to get off the couch and jump in the pool needs to be louder than ever, and it needs to be heard today before the chlorine wears off.

People not in the know need to hear about the dedication it takes to be a competitive swimmer. They need to hear about the weight training.

They need to hear about the diet. They need to hear about the pre-dawn practices before school and the laps put in after school.

Even if they aren’t seeking ribbons and medals, people not in the know need to hear about the good swimming can do for their health.

People need to know breathing required during a half-hour swim recharges every muscle and organ in the body with fresh oxygen. They need to know the weight of the water supporting a swimmer’s body allows synovial fluid to lubricate joints, making for greater mobility when the swimmer walks or runs on land. They need to know swimming builds smooth, toned, elongated muscles. They need to know swimming laps is meditation in motion and energizes the brain.

Thanks to Phelps, swimming in the U.S. has a window of opportunity like never before. But not knowing when that window might close, time is of the essence.