By Michelle Kaufman | The Miami Herald

BEIJING — The spotlight intensified on the Water Cube with each passing day of these Olympics as the world witnessed Michael Phelps' nine-day battle with history. And the made-for-NBC drama reached a crescendo Sunday morning Beijing time as the U.S. phenom won an unprecedented eighth gold medal in the medley relay in world-record time.

Eight events. Eight golds. Seven world records.

The Australian team stood in his way, and Andrew Lauterstein said the Aussies were determined to ruin Phelps' pool party. "We're going to give the Americans a good shake and hopefully keep Phelpsy from getting his eighth gold.''

No such luck. The U.S. led after the backstroke, and was in third place at the halfway mark, when Phelps took over to swim the third leg, the butterfly. He regained the lead for the Americans in 50.15 seconds, and Jason Lezak preserved it to fulfill Phelps' seemingly-unrealistic goal. They won in 3:29.34.

The silver medal went to Australia, and Japan took bronze.

"Without the help of my teammates, this wouldn't be possible,'' Phelps said. "I think back to that 4x100 relay. We came together. From winning by one-100th to doing a best time in every event, it's been nothing but a roller coaster and it's been nothing but fun.

"Anything is possible. That is something I learned.''

The swimming was the easy part. Articulating his emotions proved harder.

"I don't really know what to feel right now. There is so much emotion going through my head. So much excitement, I guess I just want to see my mom.''

There was so much heat on Phelps and his U.S. relay teammates it's a wonder the plastic-bubbled arena didn't melt. Forty-one-year-old Parkland mom Dara Torres was also on the menu in the 50-meter final and the medley relay, making it the most anticipated day at the pool.

Torres, a five-time Olympian and the oldest U.S. Olympic swimmer in history, won silver in the 50 in a personal-best 24.07 seconds. Britta Steffen of Germany won gold and Cate Campbell of Australia took bronze, and both of their ages combined don't equal 41.

It was Torres' 11th career medal, and 45 minutes later, she won No. 12. Torres anchored the silver-medal medley relay team, and tied Jenny Thompson as most decorated female U.S. swimmer.

She heads back to South Florida with three silvers at these Olympics, and her newest medals took on extra significance because her Coral Springs coach, Michael Lohberg, is fighting for his life in a Bethesda, Md., hospital, battling a rare blood disorder.

Phelps also had a lot on his mind and broad shoulders heading into his race. He was on a quest for gold medal No. 8, which would surpass swimming legend Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record set in Munich.

With 13 career gold medals heading into the race, he already stood alone on a pedestal, ahead of a pack of impressive nine-gold winners – Spitz, Carl Lewis, Larissa Latvnina and Paavo Nurmi.

By racetime Sunday, Phelps had swum 17 races over nine days and covered roughly 70,000 meters, counting warm-ups and cool-downs. He had also consumed nearly 100,000 calories, consisting largely of pasta, pizza, pancakes and omelets. Five-egg omelets are typical fare.

"Lots of carbs,'' he said, smiling.

And, Phelps had captured the imagination of millions – perhaps billions – of fans, including some of America's most accomplished athletes.

Kobe Bryant and a few other NBA players attended Phelps' fourth and fifth gold-medal races earlier in the week, and afterward, an incredulous Bryant told reporters: "That is not normal.''

No, it's not. Not even close.

Phelps fever has taken hold back home in the United States, particularly in Baltimore, his hometown. The Ravens got special permission from NBC to show Phelps' final race on the stadium jumbo screens after Saturday's NFL game, and were asking their fans to stay and root on their hometown hero.

Phelps' mother, Debbie, on Saturday was named Johnson and Johnson's "Official Olympic Mother,'' which means she will likely wind up on television commercials sometime soon. And Speedo rewarded Phelps with a $1 million bonus for tying Spitz's record.

Over the course of the week, the 23-year-old with the long torso and size 14 flippers, proved he could win in every kind of situation. He broke records in his first six events, won a race blind when his goggles filled with water, won another thanks to a spectacular relay split by Lezak, and won his seventh by one one-hundredth of a second.

And so, it came down to the 4x100 medley relay. His place in history would be largely determined by his three teammates – Aaron Peirsol (backstroke), Brendan Hansen (breaststroke), and Lezak (freestyle).

It wasn't the first time Phelps was in position to win eight medals heading into the final relay. He won seven golds at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne, and the relay team blew his eighth when they were disqualified after Ian Crocker made an illegal exchange.

This time, they were under strict orders not to do that again.

Crocker, who swam the semifinal to secure the coveted Lane 4 for the A-team, said: "After this week, all that Phelps has done, you don't want to be the guy who stood in his way, do something stupid. I want him to have every shot at doing it."

Mission accomplished.

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