OMAHA, Neb. — Michael Phelps laughed at the prospect. Could his presence really distract — maybe even sabotage — the other U.S. swimmers trying to make the Olympic team?

"I don't know about that," Phelps said.

But think about it. Here Phelps is, not just qualifying in four events so far but winning them. The poor swimmers in the next lanes over don't have a chance — unless, of course, they want a silver medal, which comes with an outside shot at missing the Olympics.

Phelps is the Tiger Woods of swimming. He is Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. He doesn't lose because, well, he just doesn't. Not in these events. Not when there are Olympic medals at stake.

Racing him, according to one of his competitors this week, isn't about swimming your best time. It's about swimming better than his best time — he of the four Olympic gold medals in 2004 and he of the attempt this year at beating Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds .

"It's really intimidating swimming next to Phelps," said Dave Walters, who swam the fifth-best time in the 200-meter freestyle despite being the third seed. Phelps, of course, won the event.

A Mission Hills, Kan., native admitted Wednesday he swam his worst event of the week with Phelps two lanes over. Bobby Bollier is 18 and said he already has learned that blocking out the Phelps Factor is an important part of winning or even placing in a race.

"I'm kind of used to that pressure," said Bollier, who has swum against Phelps in a race in which Phelps broke a world record. "I just try focusing on my race."

Still, Bollier finished seventh in Wednesday's butterfly despite posting the fourth-best time in the semifinals a day earlier. He said he wanted to reach the top eight. He was disappointed he didn't qualify, sure, but then again, this is the Michael Phelps Era.

Bollier said he hopes to return in four years; try his luck again when Phelps, who would be 26 in 2012, might be finished chasing gold medals and retired to the public speaking circuit. Besides, winning this year, in Phelps' prime, is like expecting Jordan to miss a layup in game seven or Woods' putt to lip out on No. 18.

Even Phelps seems to be buying into it. He has given plenty of love this week to his teammates, saying that sure, they could win a gold medal in Beijing — as long as they win it on the relay team.

"We really could have one of the best teams ever," he said, of course lumping himself in the pile. Phelps, by the way, possesses four world records, one of which he improved upon this week.

Phelps said Wednesday night that he is tired. He is far too tired, he said, to keep going. So he pulled out of the 200-meter backstroke, a race not among his eight possible gold medal-winning events, because he wanted to focus on those eight. He wanted plenty of energy and, heck, why not give those other swimmers a break, anyway?

Besides, Phelps doesn't really believe he could have qualified in every event, does he? He doesn't really think he could have entered himself into nine events and somehow qualified in all of them. Right?

Well . . .

"I could've done it," he said.

He didn't laugh when he said that.