Olympics Still Months Away, Swimmer Brings Home Gold

"Standing in front of you guys tonight, receiving this award is definitely an honor," he said. "Being in a group with athletes who I'm here with today is an amazing accomplishment within itself."

He said he wanted to thank all those who had made this possible. He would later express his gratitude to his parents, sister, coach, agent and friends.

But the first to get his thanks that night, as he stood in the hallowed temple to sports, was "the team that I've been working with:

"Speedo, Visa, Argent.

"They've been a big help to allow me to get to this point today."

'Co-Branding Action'

The two PowerBar photographers, along with a company representative, had been waiting all morning by the concrete diving tower at the George F. Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara, Calif., for time with Michael Phelps.

They had their camera gear. They had a pile of gray sweat shirts and black baseball caps emblazoned with the brown and yellow PowerBar logo. And they had a good spot for photographs. All they needed was Phelps.

But these days everyone wants time with Michael Phelps, and on this Sunday in May he was in the middle of an arduous morning of preliminary races in an annual Santa Clara meet, where he was the main celebrity.

Phelps had three races that morning, and three that evening. And he was leaving for Colorado the next day for more training. His time was limited.

Finally, with the morning session ending, his agent's assistant approached the worried-looking photographers. "Okay," she said, "we're going to do it now." But they would have only five minutes. "Literally, five minutes. Do you have anything you want him to wear?"

They did. "We'll do sweatshirt, hat, and I want one with his hat on backwards," said Natalie Santos Ferguson, the PowerBar rep. She had gotten Phelps's red and blue "MP" logo sewn on the back of one of the hats. "A little co-branding action," she said.

After his last race, which he won, Phelps walked over wearing a white T-shirt with the Visa logo on it. That kind of co-branding was okay, Ferguson had explained, because PowerBar wasn't a credit card company. Plus, the sweatshirt would cover the T-shirt.

Phelps stood on the concrete foundation, while the photographers worked, ordering him to strike this pose or that. At one point, he raised his arms, which lifted his shirt, exposing the waistband of his underwear. "If you could push your Calvin Kleins in a little bit," one of the photographers said. "We don't want too much co-branding."

"Two minutes, guys," someone called out. "Actually, a minute and a half."

The final shots would be Phelps in swimming goggles. He started to put on a pair, but stopped. "Time out," he said. "Gotta get the other goggles." He jogged off to the bleachers and was back in moment. He pulled on the new goggles, which looked shiny and sleek, and had clearly etched in the side the word, "Speedo."

Time was now almost up.

"Just one, just one," said Phelps's agent, Carlisle, who was watching.

"We really got to run."