"He's motivated by failure, he's motivated by success, he's motivated by money, he's motivated by comments people make," Bob Bowman says. "He can take just about anything he comes across and turn it into some kind of motivation. That's one of his greatest attributes."

Phelps hasn't had to look far for an impetus since last year's world championships. There, testing the waters in the 400- and 100-meter freestyle, the 2004 Olympic star slipped from superhuman status. He failed to qualify for the 400 final and finished seventh in the 100.

"I did new things. I didn't like how they worked. And I saw that my times aren't where they should be, in my opinion, so from there, if it doesn't show me that I need to start getting back to serious training and start getting back into it, then I don't know what would," Phelps says.

The serious training included 18,400 meters, or nearly 11½ miles, of swimming one day last month at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. It was Phelps' hardest training day ever, Bowman says.

It was part of the prelude to a full summer schedule for Phelps that continues this weekend with a Grand Prix event in Santa Clara, Calif., and likely ends in mid-August in the Pan Pacific championships in Victoria, British Columbia.

Phelps won five individual events, the 100 free among them, at a Charlotte meet two weeks ago and helped set two meet records in relays for Club Wolverine (Mich.). He finished second in one of his weakest events, the 200 breaststroke.

"I think this summer he feels a strong need to show that if he's not better than he was before, at least he's as good," Bowman says.

One of the main story lines in the 2008 Olympics figures to be whether Phelps is good enough to match or surpass the eight medals he won in 2004.

Olympic broadcaster NBC has asked the International Olympic Committee to switch the 2008 swimming finals from evenings to mornings so the races can be broadcast live in prime time. China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

The IOC executive board is scheduled to discuss the request Thursday.

Bowman said a change could positively affect Phelps' Olympic performance. In 2004, Phelps had days in which he swam two preliminary races in the morning, then a semifinal and final at night.

"Obviously, the final is going to be most emotionally draining," Bowman says. "To have that first in the day I think is an advantage. ... Now he can feel free in the mornings to just really go for it."

If the IOC approves the switch, Bowman plans to schedule morning finals the next two years at the Grand Prix event he helps organize as the University of Michigan coach. A change could have an effect on Phelps' Olympic program, though at next year's world championships, scheduled for March in Melbourne, Australia, Phelps' events likely will mirror those he swam in Athens.

That would mean leaving the 400 and 100 freestyle off the program — the 400 likely for good and the 100 until after the 2008 Games, Bowman says.

Phelps won gold in the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 and 400 individual medley, the 4x200 freestyle relay and the medley relay. He won bronze in the 200 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay.

"You always say, 'Stick with what works,' " Phelps says, "but I never know what's going on in Bob's head. I'd like to try to do the same order. I don't know if the order is going to be different in Beijing."

Phelps' 2008 plans will be more definite after the 2007 worlds. For now he's consumed by a more short-term focus.

"I don't want to have another summer where I'm not happy afterward," he says.