Phelps the clear choice in Dundee area

People remember heroes and record-breakers. And, they don't need cameras or statistics or gold medals to tell them who they like in the Olympics.

They aren't impressed with who may be the fastest runner or swimmer or best gymnast. They know they may be watching the fastest for a while, but someone else will come along and redefine speed or graceful balance.

At least some members of the Dundee Township Senior Center do. They have already lived through a bunch of recordbreakers. Now, they are seeing the latest at the Beijing games.

They have been watching and remembering summer and winter Olympics longer than younger folks. They remember when broadcasts didn't start in the afternoon and go until early the next morning.

And they have their favorite athletes. The number of medals don't win their hearts. The people receiving it do.

Hands down, Michael Phelps is a winner to them.

"He's a wonderful person," said Ina Dews, an Elgin resident. "Considering (an attention disorder) he had to overcome. It's good to see him do so well. He's a good person."

As of Sunday, Phelps had won eight gold medals for swimming, breaking Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven medals for swimming.

Dews doesn't like Spitz.

"He's too cocky," she said.

Emma Everett of West Dundee agreed.

"At least Michael Phelps is not a showoff (like Mark Spitz)," she said. "And I don't believe those Chinese gymnasts are 16 years old either."

She's been watching them too, along with the beach volleyball games and swimming competitions.

Olympic rules state that gymnasts must be at least 16 during the year of the summer games.

"Michael Phelps is good," said Jan Bryant, a rural Dundee Township resident. "But what do you expect, he's built for swimming. He has size 14 feet that bend. They're like flippers in the water. And his torso is long too."

"It's all the technology (Chinese organizers) have built into the pool," said Al Douglas of West Dundee. "There's no backwash swimmers have to deal with."

He too likes Phelps along with Norm Kono of Carpentersville.

"Today it's him. Tomorrow it will be somebody else," he said. "It's hard to keep up these days with all the technology (athletes have)."