Back May Limit Phelps in Trials for Worlds

Michael Phelps answers questions during a news conference leading up to the World Championship Trials. "My back isn't 100 percent," he said. (Darron Cummings -- AP)

Michael Phelps entered seven events at the six-day World Championship Trials in Indianapolis, which begin today, but he might not swim in all of them because of a nagging back strain, Phelps said this week during a conference call.

Phelps, who won eight medals -- six gold -- at last summer's Olympics in Athens, said he would heed the advice of his coach Bob Bowman in deciding in which events to compete.

"My back isn't 100 percent," he said. "Right now, I'm feeling pretty good. Hopefully, I can continue feeling good through this week . . . [but] we're not quite sure what definite events we're going to swim."

Phelps, who is from North Baltimore, Md., has entered the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys; 100, 200 and 400 freestyle; and 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly at this event, the qualifying event for the July world championships in Montreal. Should Phelps, who did not swim the 100 and 400 freestyle in Athens, decide to compete in all seven events, he could win as many as 10 world championships spots, given his chances of swimming on all three relay teams.

That, however, seems unlikely. He said he hasn't done much backstroke training because it aggravates his injury.

In October, Phelps dropped out of the short-course world championships after the first day because of the strain. Since then, he has been enrolled at the University of Michigan as a freshman, taking two classes and training with the swim team there. Though he turned professional and is ineligible for NCAA events, Phelps helps Michigan coach Bowman as an assistant.

"I'm excited to be back in the water racing again," Phelps said. "This is my favorite part of swimming: racing. That's what I'm looking forward to the most, just being able to get in the water and compete again."

-- Amy Shipley