19 Years After Diving Into the Same Olympic Pool as Michael Phelps, Ben Armbruster Aims for 100M Butterfly Glory at Swimming World Cup 2023

Legendary swimmer Michael Phelps made his Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Phelps was only 15 at the time and did not win any medals in Sydney. However, all that changed four years later at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he won a total of eight Olympic medals, with 6 of them being gold while two were bronze. The most decorated Olympian of all time had won the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m medley, 400m medley, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley.

Now, almost two decades later, Australian swimming prodigy Ben Armbruster is set to share the same Olympic pool in which Michael Phelps won eight Olympic medals in 2004. 21-year-old Armbruster will be appearing at the Athens leg of the 2023 Swimming World Cup which will allow him to dip into history at the iconic Olympic pool.

Ben Armbruster to share Michael Phelps’ iconic Olympic pool

The 2023 Swimming World Cup has completed its Berlin leg of the competition and now the elite tournament shifts to Athens for this upcoming weekend. During the Berlin leg of the tournament, Australian swim sensation Ben Armbruster secured a first-place finish in the men’s 50m butterfly event with a time of 23.08. However, the talented swimmer did not stop there and even secured a second-place finish in the men’s 100m butterfly discipline with a time of 51.69 seconds.

Now with the competition headed to Athens, Armbruster will have the chance to touch history as he will race in the same 2004 Athens Olympic pool where Michael Phelps won 6 gold medals. After some impressive performances, Armbruster finished the Berlin leg of the tournament as the sixth-ranked male swimmer with a total of 49 points and meet prize money of US$5,400.

According to a World Aquatics report, the Australian will be once again aiming for podium finishes in the men’s 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly events as he aims to first win the heats on Friday in Athens. As Armbruster gears up for his upcoming events in Athens, he himself would be reflecting on the glorious records set by Phelps in the same pool 19 years ago.

Multiple records were set by legendary American swimmer in the 2004 Olympics

The 2004 Athens Olympics was Michael Phelps’ second-ever Olympics. However, despite that, Phelps earned 8 Olympic medals and his first race of the tournament also earned him a new world record. His time of 4:08.26 in the men’s 400m individual medley shattered the previous world record and earned him his first gold medal of the tournament.

Soon after, Phelps set an Olympic record time of 1:54.04 in the 200m butterfly event, and during the same Olympics, Phelps also tied Mark Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals in a single Olympics. Although he missed out on Spitz’s record of 7 Olympic gold medals in a single Olympics.

Read more: Michael Phelps Revealed Finer Details of Fabled $1 Million Deal With Speedo Before 2004 Athens Olympics

All these instances highlight the rich history that is associated with the 2004 Athens Olympic pool. As for?Ben Armbruster, the Australian swimmer will be looking to add to this glorious history by putting in some majestic performances this weekend during the 2023 Swimming World Cup.

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