Even if he had only won one gold medal, and didn't get a world record, I would be impressed. But, he won 6 with 6 world records (and counting). On top of his 6 previous gold medals, and countless world records. That's amazing. Sure there there are skills that transfer from one event to the next, but the silver and bronze medalists in each event aren't the same, and few people in the finals of each event are the same, so each event definitely has different criteria for success and different skills. If they ran the swimming without any overlap Phelps could probably win a few more medals as well.

Sure, swimming lends itself to winning more medals than other sports. So does track and field, especially for the sprinters. But why do we have to compare him to every other athlete? Why isn't it enough that he is the best swimmer in over three decades? That he may have a better olympics than any swimmer, anywhere, ever?

Michael Phelps is a once in a generation athlete in his sport, there is no way you can argue against that. You don't have to watch, but to not be impressed is ridiculous. You don't have to like swimming to appreciate his accomplishment.