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Superman has Kryptonite. Michael Jordan has investment CEO John Rogers. Even the great ones have that one person or one thing which seems to just have their number. For Michael Phelps, that one thing is polyurethane suits.

In Phelps’ first major competition since the 2009 World Championships, he failed to final in 3 out of his 5 events at the Stockholm World Cup meet. The notable difference between him and most of his competitors was that Phelps was wearing a textile, waist-to-knee “jammer” that complies with the new suit regulations that go into effect in 2010. Many of his competitors were taking advantage of one of the last opportunities to wear the rubbery polyurethane suits that have lead to the breaking of all but 5 swimming World Records in the past 2 years. Who can blame them, as there are big cash prizes at stake for both performing well at the World Cup and for breaking World Records.

Phelps has bigger goals in mind, and is instead interested in preparing for next year’s Short Course American Championships, where all swimmers will be wearing the new suits.

The polyurethane suits are estimated by some to be worth as many as 1 second per 100 meters, so what other factors could have been in play?

1) The timing of the meet. With the next Olympics 3 years out, the World Championships 2 Summers away, and no major continental championships (the Pan-Am games are nowhere near the level of the European Championships), American swimmers don’t have a high-profile meet to look forward to. That makes this the perfect, and perhaps only, opportunity for American swimmers to take a break for training between now and 2012. Phelps has taken advantage and has ratcheted back his training since the 2009 World Championships.

2) The Events. Phelps was swimming in races that weren’t necessarily his specialties, like the 100 free and 100 back. It’s important to note that he still performed very well in the events that he was always excelled in: the Individual Medleys.

3) The Course. The meet is being swum in a 25 meter pool, whereas most major meets are swum in 50 meter pools. Of course, Phelps is probably the best swimmer in the world, no matter the pool distance, but Phelps’ stroke is better suited for a longer pool. His starts aren’t overly explosive, and while he does have good turns (there are more of them in a short course meet), he does better when he can build up to top speed. In a 25 meter pool, he doesn’t have time to do that. Think of it as the difference between a “quick” running-back, who cuts like lightening to evade defenders, and a “fast” running-back, who might not have quite the same moves, but once he gets around the cornerback, nobody is going to catch him. Phelps is the latter, which fits better with a 50 meter course.

4) His motives for attending. Phelps came to this meet not because he was motivated by the potential prize money (even if he had won all 5 of his events, he would’ve only netted $7,500 minus travel costs), but to mentor a select group of high school swimmers that were invited to the European stops. Check out Reach For The Wall to read about it, but suffice it to say, Phelps accomplished his goal of mentoring the future of American swimming.

So everyone, don’t be alarmed. Michael Phelps is still Michael Phelps, and he will again dominate world swimming; this meet just proved a perfect storm of circumstances to result in possibly Phelps’ least successful meet in 8 or more years. And he’s probably ok with that.

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