Swimming sensation Michael Phelps

How's this for pressure?

You're 19 years old, America's number one swimmer and preparing to compete in eight events at the Olympics.

And your fans - and the media - expect you to win them all!

Welcome to the world of Michael Phelps - winner of six world titles, holder of three world records, and currently the best all-round swimmer on the planet.

In 2000, aged 15, he became America's youngest Olympian for almost 70 years, reaching the final of the 200m butterfly.

Phelps is cool under pressure

This time around he's expected to clean up, so how does he cope with such enormous expectation?

"You can look at pressure in two different ways," says Phelps. "It's either going to hurt you or help you.

"I see it as something that helps me. If there's pressure on me or someone thinks I can't do something, it's going to make me work even harder.

"I guess it'll give me that little extra edge - that extra fire that I need."

The Spitz factor

Ask any American swimming fan to name their country's greatest ever swimmer and you'll probably get the same answer every time: Mark Spitz.

In 1972 Spitz won a record seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics. Can Phelps equal - or even beat - that record?

US legend Mark Spitz

"My goal is to get one gold medal," he says.

"You've got to start somewhere and after coming back from Sydney with nothing I think that's the place to start."

If he does equal the record, Phelps will earn a $1m bonus from his sponsors. It seems like yet more pressure, but Phelps always keeps a level head.

"If it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't," he says.

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"When it happened in 1972 everyone said it was unbeatable, but I think there are a number of swimmers in the world today who could put up a fight to it."

Whatever happens in Athens, the teenager from Baltimore seems destined to break records for years come.

And if he can achieve that magical total of seven golds he'll become an instant American legend.

Dhanraj is good...

Sunday was the Independence Day and all of us badly wanted to win our Olympic opener as a gift to our motherland. The reality, however, is that a combination of defensive lapses and poor finishing by the forwards forced us to go down to holders Holland 1-3.

We have to now pick up the pieces and raise our game to the desired level to try and bag life-saving three points against South Africa on Tuesday.

Let me make one thing clear to my readers: I personally feel that there was not much difference between the two teams as far as strategy and skills were concerned. But it was sad and unfortunate that we conceded 'soft goals'. It could have been easily avoided. Being down by a goal by the second minute just goes to show how unsettled and nervous we were at the start. Perhaps some of our youngsters, who played their first Olympic tie on Sunday, were a bit overawed by the situation. Under such circumstances mistakes were bound to happen.

But, then, why blame the young boys only? Even the senior players like us were unable to convert the chances that came our way. We did create chances and showed some individual brilliance, but it was teamwork and finishing that left much to be desired.

I would not accept that Holland were far superior to us, but I must give them credit for converting the half chances into goals. And that's what matters most in big events. It all boils down to who commits the least mistakes and converts the most chances. We failed miserably in both departments.

Looking back at the game, I cannot help saying that mistakes we committed were simply unforgivable. We practically played into their hands and gave away three points on a platter. Such acts not only break the rhythm and momentum of the team but also turn the fighting spirit into frustration, despair and anger. Let us hope that we learn from these mistakes and such things do not happen again in the rest of the encounters.

It will not be right if I do not point out some positive points of our side in Sunday's tie. Adrian D'Souza, who played his first Olympic match, had a great game under the bar and played like a seasoned goalkeeper. Our midfielders controlled the game much better in the second half and were zestful in assisting the forwardline. Although in the first half we played in patches and were unable to get going, we could dish out much more disciplined hockey in the second session. We were able to play through the flanks and then attack through the centre. All our efforts came to a nought as time and again we failed to convert the chances.

We are now left with no other option but to pull up our socks and rise to the occasion with more purpose and vigour. All is not lost yet and we have four more games to play. If the players can put this defeat behind them and concentrate on winning the other games, then we would still be left with a fighting chance to make the semi-finals.

I am sure there will be many more upsets in this pool as a wounded Argentina will try their best to come back into contention. There will be thrilling encounters till the end before the two semi-finalists emerge from our group.

Personally, I am not the one who throws in the towel too easily. We will fight it out till the last match and not take it lying down. I am taking this defeat as a blessing in disguise for better things to come. With this prayer and hope, I appeal to you all to stay with us and support 'Your Team' in the rest of the outings.