[Dean]

Phelps is this generation's Mark Spitz or Matt Biondi, the later of which I went to high school with.

It appears that when someone is truly gifted moving their body through water, for the most part, it is not really important what stroke they use. I think a huge part of what he excels at is going into and out of walls. His launch off the block or walls along with amazing dolphin kick that he often uses for 1/3 to almost 1/2 the length of the pool is where he makes up a huge amount of distance/time.