“My goggles fill up with water… I counted my strokes” – Michael Phelps on how he swam ‘blind’ at the 2008 Olympics 

Even the most decorated athlete of all time, Michael Phelps, wasn't immune to problems during races.

No race is perfect. In fact, every athlete would agree that a perfect race is an elusive dream that they only chance upon once in a while. So, what matters most in a competition is to have the presence of mind to tackle even the smallest of issues that always seem to crop up.

Phelps found a way to overcome any hurdle that he came across. In fact, he had to face a big one while competing on the grandest sporting stage in the world.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps was the fan favorite to bag a gold medal in every event he was set to take part in, including the 200m butterfly. But as soon as he hit the water, something went awfully wrong.

Michael Phelps [File photo]

His goggles started to flood with water. At just 25m into the race, he was already blinded by the water.

It is almost unbelievable that someone would complete a race in a situation like this, let alone win an Olympic gold medal and break a world record. But that's exactly what Michael Phelps did. He attributed this determined race to mental preparation.

In 2017, he spoke to Dubai Eye 103.8 about this when asked about what separated him from his competitors. He had said:

"I mean the biggest thing, I think, that really separated me through my career was my mental game. Everything that was in between my ears like for me it's just, I eventually got to the point where I was competing against myself because I was so hard on myself. And you know, for me, to improve, I had to get stronger mentally and I had to find a way to do it."

Michael Phelps mentioned that visualization played a big role in his mental training.

"I think my coach helped me get through that process and learn more. So for me, like when I when I would visualize, I visualize every single, I mean getting up to a meet, and I would visualize probably a month or so in advance just of what could happen, what I want to happen and what I don't want to happen because when it happened I was prepared for it."

He then mentioned the 2008 Beijing Olympics 200m butterfly race and how his goggles flooded. After being virtually blinded by the water, he resorted to what he did in training: counting his strokes. He elaborated:

"So you know, when I go into 2008 and in the 200 fly, my goggles fill up with water the first 25. And I am blind for a 175 meters. I revert back to what I did in training and counted my strokes. And I knew how many strokes I take the first, second, third, and fourth 50 of all of my best 200 flies. So I reverted back to that and I was ready for that because I was mentally prepared for it."

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Michael Phelps and his historic 2008 Beijing Olympics triumph

Michael Phelps (Image via Tim De Waele/Getty Images)

'Baltimore Bullet' Michael Phelps had a dream run at the 2004 Athens Olympics with six gold medals. He entered the 2008 Beijing Olympics being touted to do something historic.

He did not disappoint. He bagged a whopping eight gold medals to break compatriot Mark Spitz's record set at the 1972 Munich Games.

He won a gold medal in every event he took part in and became the first individual to win eight gold medals in the same Games. It was a feat that had not been seen before and many doubt if it will ever be repeated.