Michael Phelps: Poor Performance in London Would Force Swimmer to Ponder Future

Michael Phelps claims he will join us land-dwelling creatures after the London Olympics and retire from swimming.

I shouldn't have to go over the laundry list of athletes who've had a sudden epiphany when actually faced with retirement, or athletes whose failure to deliver an epic closing performance prompts them to have one last go-around.

Don't rule Phelps out of either of those categories. If he has a noteworthy performance in this year's Olympic Games you can expect him to walk away from the pool, but a poor performance would bring a different element to the equation.

Phelps is too proud and too iconic to hang up his swim cap on a sour note. No athlete wants to leave spectators with the wrong lasting impression, let alone a 16-time Olympic medal winner.

He will compete in seven events in this year's London games. He qualified for eight, but he decided to drop the 200-meter freestyle from his busy agenda.

Phelps needs to medal in three of those events to become the all-time leader in Olympic medals. That's no ordinary achievement. That rivals the largest records in any of the world's "mainstream" sporting events.

If Phelps comes up short in this year's games, don't be surprised if we see him competing in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It would be unfitting to see this athletic titan fall one medal short of all-time Olympic reverence.

Retirement probably seems like a nice idea to Phelps now, but it won't if he doesn't perform well this summer.

There isn't a swimming fan in the world who wouldn't like to see Phelps continue his career. Don't rule out that possibility, despite his sentiments saying otherwise.