USA Swimming star Michael Andrew: We're going to try and break that world record

Swimming star Michael Andrew is on the verge of greatness, according to the most successful Olympian of all time Michael Phelps.

The 23-time gold medallist recently said in an interview that he thought his compatriot could break the 200m individual medley world record if he adjusted his training.

And Phelps would know, having smashed that long course record eight times in his career.

Andrew currently sits sixth on the all-time list with a time of 1.55.26, which is almost 1.5 seconds off Ryan Lochte at the top. But at just 22 years old, the California resident still has plenty of time on his side.

“It's amazing. When you look at an athlete that's so excellent like Michael Phelps. He's the greatest of all time. And for him to say something like that about me, it's a huge shot in the arm, which is awesome,” Andrew told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.

“But I do know that there's a lot of work that needs to be done. I’m the fastest in the world to the 150 (metre mark), and then things quickly fall apart. So a lot of it's going to come in the form of endurance training, learning how to close that race and how to preserve energy for that last 50.

“This would be kind of funny. What if I had the fastest 150 metres in the world and I came home the slowest and still broke the world record. That's possible. We're going to try and break that world record.”

Challenging traditional training methods

Andrew has never been afraid to do things differently, and has subsequently been in the media spotlight throughout his whole career.

In 2013, he became the youngest American swimmer to turn professional at 14, which was frowned upon by some due to the huge workload for a developing athlete.

Andrew’s father Peter is his coach, and courted more controversy for his non-traditional Ultra Short Race Pace Training technique.

But the family unit persisted with their revolutionary methods which eventually paid dividends. In 2017, the aquatic prodigy became the first person to achieve three world junior records at a single World Junior Swimming Championships.

“From a young age, we did things differently,” he continued.

Those early techniques continued to serve Andrew well as he transitioned to the senior ranks.

At the senior 2019 World Championships, he became the first male swimmer to reach the finals of all four strokes over 50m.

After qualifying for his first Olympics at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021), Andrew teamed up with Ryan Murphy, Caeleb Dressel and Zach Apple to land gold and a new world record in the 4x100m medley relay in Japan.

While Andrew’s father’s non-traditional coaching techniques are well publicised, perhaps the most underrated factor behind his success is having balance in his life.

A swimmer’s training routine, in any form, is physically and mentally tough. Hours spent looking at a line at the bottom of the pool are followed by rigorous gym sessions and regimented diets.

Add to the fact that Andrew also had to deal with the pressure of being of the USA’s most talked-about young athletes, and he knew that he had to have interests away from the pool

“Outside of that (swimming) I live in Paradise. I get to call Coronado home. Southern California is amazing. I play volleyball all weekend, tennis, I spear fish, I surf,” he said.

“There's this excitement that I get to, one, be a professional athlete and love what I do, travel the world. But I also have this perspective of it's just swimming so I can do other cool things. I can live my life. I can have great friendships and go out and enjoy my surroundings because swimming isn't all consuming.

“It doesn't have to be all consuming for me to be excellent. And I have this balance so I can love everything.”

Andrew will be the centre of attention once again at the USA World Championships Trials, which take place from 26-30 April in Greensboro, NC.

Despite Phelps’ high praise in the medley, the versatile athlete has no plans to specialise in that event just yet.

“Going into World Trials the focus remains the same, but we're adding one event,” Andrew revealed.

“50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, potentially the 200 IM, and I'm going to swim the 100 fly because, why not? I remember going into Olympic trials, I had swum the second fastest or top three fastest times in the world. But I didn't want to swim it because it conflicted with my 200 IM and my 50 free.

“So we'll be relatively busy over the course of a few days, but I'm doing all the events that I love and know. These are my events, and I’m pretty excited to go for it.”