Making A Splash

It was an irresistible formula for concocting the most popular Olympic event of the first week. Start with an unroofed pool venue, which became a giant, boisterous tanning bed during the scorching morning races. Add the lure of an athlete who might be undone by his own hubris, and you have an Athens experience that's hard to match. In the end, American teenager Michael Phelps did not reach the prize he was aiming for — the most gold medals won in a single Games — but it would be churlish to suggest that his haul of six gold and two bronze...