Crocker set for world swim championships Portland native to take on archrival, new friend Phelps again

One of the most memorable moments of the 2004 Summer Olympics came when swimming star Michael Phelps relinquished his spot in the 400-meter medley relay final to Portland native Ian Crocker.

Crocker, who had struggled earlier in the Athens games, then helped the U.S set a world record and win a gold medal in the relay, the second of his career in the Olympics.

About a year later, as he is making final preparations for next week’s world championships in Montreal, the 2000 graduate of Cheverus High in Portland and Maine’s first swimming gold medalist in 2000, has found that moment in Athens has led to a variety of different opportunities, as well as a solid relationship with eight-time Olympic medalist Phelps.

Shortly after returning from Greece, Crocker, Phelps, and fellow gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg headed out on the Disney’s Swimming With the Stars tour.

On Friday, two days before the pool swimming starts and before Crocker will attempt to break his own world records in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly events, a new documentary about the rivalry and personal lives of Crocker and Phelps will debut. Then it’s off to Irving, Calif., for the Duel in the Pool starting Aug. 2.

Crocker is entered in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly events. He set his 100 fly world record of 50.76 seconds at last summer’s Olympic Trials, and his 23.30 in the 50 fly was set at a club meet in February 2004.

“For worlds I’m just looking to go fast,” he said Tuesday after a morning training session in College Park, Md. “I want to go best time, which would mean under the world record. I’ve been doing some good training in the last year. It’s been a hectic year but it’s been good. I’m ready to get in. I’m in race mode, I’m resting right now, my body definitely feels like it’s ready to get started, to start racing.”

Crocker will also swim in the 400 medley relay either in the morning heat or the championship finals. The fastest swimmer in each of the four strokes usually gains a spot in the more prestigious evening final.

That’s the situation that came up in the 2004 Olympics. Phelps beat Crocker for gold in the 100 fly, but Phelps, who had already won several golds in Athens, gave Crocker his spot on the medley relay team.

Crocker and Phelps have gotten to know each other better through last year’s Swim With the Stars, which showcases the two swimmers plus Krayzelburg. This year’s 15-city tour kicks off in August at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Swimming With the Stars allows the swimmers to meet young swimmers – kind of a grassroots effort to spread the sport, Crocker said – and gives Crocker and Phelps a chance to race against each other in the pool.

They’ve developed a strong relationship, Crocker said.

“We have a good time joking and laughing outside the pool,” he said. “When it’s time to race we get in a racing mode and everything else kind of disappears and it’s all about what happens in the lanes and nothing outside. We have a good relationship in the fact that we can leave that in the pool.”

Phelps said he’s enjoyed getting to know Crocker more this year.

“Ian and [my] relationship has been very, very close I think ever since we traveled on the tour together for a month,” Phelps said during a conference call Tuesday. “We were with each other 24 hours a day, pretty much, and I think we got to know each other a little more. He opened up and we were able to sit around and have fun.”

The two, who also share an agent in Portland-based Peter Carlisle of the Octagon Group, will again square off in the 100 fly in Montreal. Phelps edged Crocker in April at the U.S. trials for the world championships.

“I’m definitely very fortunate to have somebody like Ian in one of the events that I swim …,” Phelps said. “We sort of both bring the best out in one another.”

Before the swimming gets started, however, there’s Friday’s preview of “Unfiltered,” a look at the year since Phelps gave Crocker the 400 medley relay spot.

Crocker is excited about the documentary, which he said should give viewers an idea of life behind the scenes for a high-level swimmer.

And his visibility this year has helped him come out of his shell a bit. That’s been important for Crocker as he tries to remain marketable – swimmers rely heavily on endorsements.

“You have to kind of open up a little bit, which has been really healthy for me,” he said. “I feel like swimming, it’s definitely nice to get faster in the pool and to grow that way, but the thing is to grow as a person. I think one thing swimming has really given me is an opportunity for me to get out of my shell a little bit.”

Crocker’s willingness to speak about his struggles with depression have also garnered him some attention. Crocker began to develop signs of depression in high school and sought treatment while at the University of Texas. According to his Web site, Crocker no longer suffers from depression.

“I’ve gotten some good feedback from people who have said that hearing my story kind of helped them, which was very important,” he said. “That was my goal, to try to help people.”

Crocker recently bought a home in Austin, Texas, where he trains as a member of the Longhorn Aquatics swim club. Crocker swam four years for the University of Texas where in 2004 he was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year and set world short-course meter records in the 100 freestyle and the 100 fly.

Swimming With the Stars, along with sponsorships from swimwear giant Speedo and a back and shoulder support system called Aircast, have allowed Crocker to concentrate on training, with some time for his passions which include playing the guitar and tinkering with his 1971 Buick Rivera.

Crocker said his next goal is the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. After that – which would be London in 2012 – he’s unsure.

The Montreal meet is also one of the closest big international competitions to his parents, Richard and Gail, who live in Portland, since Crocker has been swimming on the international scene. His parents are both planning to attend worlds.