By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Swimmer Michael Phelps won't win a record eight Olympic gold medals. And, he won't match Mark Spitz's milestone of seven, either. No word yet whether he has blown a shot at being on a Wheaties box.

The headlines tell us there were far worse tragedies taking place on the planet yesterday.

Yet, from too many corners and too many people who bought into all the hype we are left with the impression, however misguided, that Phelps was — and some guy on the radio yesterday actually said it in as many words — "a failure." Or, as others have been quick to put it, "a disappointment."

Timeout for a little perspective here, please.

What Phelps has done, to date, is win one gold medal, share a bronze in a relay where he was dependent upon teammates, and, yesterday, take another bronze while setting an American record in the 200 freestyle.

If you're keeping score, with five more events still to come, Phelps could leave Athens with more total medals (eight) than most countries and as much gold (as many as six) as a Spanish explorer. We should all "fail" so miserably.

But the magazines and pre-Olympic buildup, complete with Speedo's $1 million bounty on Spitz's record, turned him into Shamu. And, now, because Phelps finished behind Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 free, he is mathematically removed from living up to the over-hyped and all-but-impossible task of winning all eight events he is scheduled to compete in.

"How can I be disappointed?" Phelps said after coming up .61 of a second short. "I swam in a race with the two fastest 200 freestylers of all time and I was right there with them."

There are a pool full of reasons nobody has equalled Spitz's mark since 1972. It is a demanding feat requiring a week's worth of non-stop success, through semis and finals, in a variety of strokes with scant room for error. Or, the infallibility of a Thorpe.

You want to talk about Olympic failures? Try Arash Miresmaeili, the Iranian who didn't want to face an Israeli in judo because of politics. That's a failure of basic Olympic spirit. Try the athletes who failed drug tests or refused to show up to take them. Or, the healthy NBA stars who chose to blow off the Olympics.

Phelps' only mistake, more of a miscalculation, really, was in aiming sky high for something he had little chance of achieving. But when his coach asked if he wanted to swim all eight events, he said what we want our athletes to say, "why not?"

Why not, indeed. Isn't that what extremely gifted 19-year-olds should be doing, testing themselves by reaching for the stars?

These Olympics are showing Phelps to be a lot of things: Ambitious, gracious, compassionate and level-headed. But one thing Phelps is not is a failure.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.