Somewhere in another universe, perhaps Kris Humphries is right up there with Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte as America’s finest swimmers.
What could I possibly be talking about? Well, KL Chouinard of NBA.com dug up the results of a series of races in 1995, in which 10-year-old Humphries mopped the floor with both future Olympians. Here’s a sampling:
Childhood @KrisHumphries was a better ? than Michael Phelps. Proof: https://t.co/6y2kpz35PE
(via @KLChouinard) pic.twitter.com/IAwnBflFSH
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) August 15, 2016
The gap from 1 to 2 is about the same as the gap from 2 to 16. ? https://t.co/gUOjQ1CsXh pic.twitter.com/G3NipJ2jEj
— KL Chouinard (@KLChouinard) August 15, 2016
Humphries led the field in six different events, including the 200-meter individual medley, which is the same event that Phelps has won four straight gold medals in. He even set three records at his age level, two of which weren’t broken for 18 years.
Not that he could have known how good Phelps and Lochte would become, but why did Humphries step away from the sport when he was beating up on future Olympic gold medalists routinely?
“I was so good at a young age that I got a little burnt out,” he told People Magazine in 2010. “I also grew up in the Michael Jordan era … for me, I watched [basketball] and saw it as a challenge. It’s hard to stay focused on something when you have a ton of success at a young age, so I picked up basketball a little later and rolled with that.”
Phelps just finished competing in his final Olympics — well, supposedly, anyway. Perhaps if things had gone a bit differently, we’d have Humphries stepping aside in his position instead.
