Beneath The Surface (Phelps 52-96)

Summary
"Breaking Out" talks about Michael and his trainer Bob and their relationship. Michael was tired of all the practicing that he had been doing over and over again. One day Bob told Michael to do 15 set of 50's like everyone else in his team. Michael got tired through the half and he slowed down a little bit, but his teammates who were behind him were telling him to go faster which was something he couldn't do. Bob got mad at him for slowing down and not getting back on the same speed he started and told Michael to come off the pool and that he wasn't goin to be on the team until he finished. Michael didn't really think that Bob was serious. "Bob got on the phone with mom and schedule a 5:30 a.m meeting with my parents and me for the next day. It was as fun as going to the dentist."(Phelps 52). This quote shows us that Bob was being serious and that Michael needed to finish the sets or else he was going to be in trouble. In the '99 juniors in Orlando, Michael finished in the top four three times and he beat his own record for the 200 fly by 10 seconds. Bob was very proud of him and he was congratulating him. Bob also told him that winning first place might have been bad luck for him. This is showing us the improvement in Bobs relationship with Michael. This was something that Bob didnt really tell Michael and Michael was going to hear it in a long time. When they got back home they started training again. Bob had told Michael that it was going to be his reating day but when they arrived at the pool Bob told him that he needed to get ready because they were going to practice. MIchael told Bob that he didnt have his suit with him and he got on the car with Michael and they went to his house so Michael could get his suit.This is explaining to us that what happed in Orlando wasn't going to happen again and that now MIchael had to go back to the training and to the yelling.

Quote
"Later, my English teacher Jeff Brotman welomed me back and asked in a jest, Michael, do you have any excuse for your absences."(Phelps 84).

Reaction
I was surprised by this quote because even though Michael Phelps had just come back from winning an Olympic medal, he was still treated like he was just another student by his teacher. I was surprised because now he still had to go to school, do homework and live a normal life like everyone else. I didn't think that Michael was going to back to school because he had started his Olymic career at such an early age and he had more Olympic medals for him to come. So why would he go back to school when he could spend that time practicing for his next matches and the next Olympic Games?