Michael Phelps: A golden shoulder to cry on

Arizona

NEARLY a week into their most recent therapeutic reunion, Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, two giants of Olympic swimming, sat down to breakfast and wondered how they would explain themselves to their children someday.

The conversations they foresaw had nothing to do with Phelps' record-shattering medal haul or with Hackett's defiance of debilitating illnesses during a decade-long dominance of the 1,500m freestyle, the most gruelling event in the pool.