Olympics Still Months Away, Swimmer Brings Home Gold

Phelps has been as conscientious with his commercial obligations as he has been with his training in the pool. Diligent and dedicated in the water, he has been a quick study in the unfamiliar world of business, his advisers say.

"Being able to work with sponsors, Speedo, Argent and Visa . . . if you're away from home and you're with them, they're a family away from home," Phelps says. "It's like we're pretty much all in this together, the sponsors and myself . . . working to get at the top of the game and to stay at the top of the game."

In recent months, with careful orchestration, Phelps's profile has risen further.

In January, he flew to Los Angeles to film a Super Bowl TV commercial for Visa with other prospective Olympians, and posed for a Speedo photo shoot at Baltimore's Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center, where he trains. (He was cut from the Super Bowl ad, which featured female volleyball players instead.)

In February he starred at a big meet in Orlando, where he was hunted by New York fashion photographers from Vanity Fair and FHM magazine, and his picture appeared on 57 million Visa brochures that were mailed to customers.

His "Today" show appearance, followed by a Speedo swimsuit extravaganza at a Manhattan nightclub, was in March, the same month he was featured on the cover of ESPN's magazine and Chase Bank began offering a Visa credit card with his picture on it.

In April, he beat out basketball stars LeBron James and Diana Taurasi for the AAU's James E. Sullivan Award. He jetted to the Bahamas, Arizona and Miami for more commercial work, and appeared in Indianapolis with NBA legend Larry Bird to promote a meet there next fall.

In May he was in TV commercials that aired during the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and was the main attraction when the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, with whom he trains, held its first ever fundraiser.

He has also filmed TV promos for NBC, which is broadcasting the Olympics, signed a multiyear endorsement deal with Omega, the Swiss watch firm, and has an informal arrangement with California's Vans footwear company: He wears their shoes; he gets them for free.

"Michael Phelps should not have to get a job, ever," says Josh Schwartz, of the SFX Sports Group marketing firm.

But his handlers want more.

In order to gain true commercial stardom, he must first live up to his potential in Athens, his agent, Peter Carlisle, says. Indeed, unlike any other Olympian, Phelps's commercial bonanza is speculative, says Condron, a corporate "roll of the dice."

If he lives up to his promise, he must then surmount the Olympic athlete's traditional marketing dilemma: Can he reach the masses?

"The swimming world, forget what they think," Carlisle says. "Olympic world? Really forget that." The question is: Can Phelps become known by the general public? "That's what you're after. . . . That's what you're up against."