As a matter of fact it is highly likely that he isn't doped. I practiced swimming on a high national level four eight years before I stopped and still I am very interested about the sport, so I would like to make a little commentary on what Michael Phelps has achieved.
He's young. Damn young. Only 23 if I recall correctly and already now he has most gold medals in the olympic history. While I agree that there is no other sport that one could score such a high amount of medals in, that still doesn't pull down the value of his performance. After all, everyone can only compete in their own sport in their own time.
At least here in Finland some people have suggested that the amount of different swimming competitions would have to be brought down. Perhaps dropping to a single 100 metre race per style and then one or two relays. This is some serious bullshit right there. Since the birth of the modern olympic games only Phelps and Spitz have achieved seven or more gold medals and I bid good luck to anyone willing to find a person with five gold medals per olympic game. The fact is that in swimming, unlike in short distance running, we are so far away from the human maximum that the world record orgies we have witnessed was easy to anticipate.
I, just like pretty much all the others, have no idea how Phelps trains, but there must be something special in that. When it is combined with his exceptional physique and physiological properties (such as the outstandingly short recovery time) we have one remarkable swimmer. I spotted this even before he said it out loud, but now it's official: He has a technical flaw in his free stroke. His head is not in the position it should be, but he still wins every time! All this means is that the others have to crack the secret and hope they are born with the natural talents of Michael Phelps.
Heck, it took 80 years for someone to surpass the 9 olympic gold medals the Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi achieved in the 1920's! To everyone who thinks Phelps' gold medals have not been justified or his record is unbreakable, I give you this: Fuck off. In due time some other swimmer defeats him as no practicer of other sport can ever achieve what he did, but that doesn't take away any of his credibility.
Btw, am I the only one who almost cried when Liu Xiang wasn't able to run his race today?