Barcelona, July 18: US teen swim star Michael Phelps yesterday admitted that he has a point to prove during the world swimming championships here next week.
Phelps' performances over the past four years have earned him comparisons to mighty Australian Ian Thorpe. But Barcelona will mark the first time that Phelps has gone into a major international championship with the weight of expectations upon him.
And the 18-year-old from Baltimore knows that he has still a long way to go before he can say he is in the same league as the 'Thorpedo'.
"In my opinion it's not really a rivalry it's just that the two of us have the exact same goals and want to accomplish the same things and it just happens to be the same race," said Phelps during the US team's press conference on their arrival in the Catalan capital.
"We're all here to prove something and I hope that I can prove it this week."



Phelps says that he takes recent comments by Australian head coach Don Talbot that he is not in the same league as their 20-year-old star Thorpe as fair comment.



"He has an opinion and his views. But in 2001 I was world champion and last summer I came away with five medals (Pan Pacs), but I don't want to say that I've proved myself," he said.


Bureau Report