Olympic silver medalist Milorad Cavic hopped on the Inside With Brett Hawke podcast to talk about his career, where he was a part of perhaps the most famous non-relay swim at the Olympic Games when he famously got beat by Michael Phelps by 0.01 in the 100 butterfly in 2008. Cavic did mention how that race put swimming on the map and how his rivalry with Phelps was built.
Milorad Cavic on the cover of Swimming World in July 2002.
Cavic talked about being born in Anaheim, California and growing up as a Yugoslavian citizen in the United States. He talked about representing Serbia internationally (9:20) and why he decided not to represent the United States. Growing up in Los Angeles, he talked about being influenced by Kobe Bryant (15:00) to be a good athlete and shared how he was confident he could win a medal at the 2004 Olympics in the 100 butterfly.
Cavic finished 16th in the 100 fly in the semifinals, but was fourth after the heats. His semifinal swim was hindered by the fact his suit sucked in water and he faded to last in his heat and was out of the final.
The two then talked about what everyone came to hear about, the 100 butterfly final in Beijing (22:00) where Milorad Cavic boldly predicted he would end Phelps’s perfect streak ongoing that week.
“I don’t think I lost that race,” Milorad Cavic said (27:00) about the famous final in Beijing and explains why he still believes that over 12 years later, citing photos of the finish where he had clearly touched the wall first. He said he regrets having his name attached to Phelps despite never really knowing him personally. He goes over his relationship with his silver medal (36:00) and why he doesn’t care for it.
The pair broke down the 100 fly final in Beijing (39:40) and why Cavic decided to go out so quickly as well as the 2009 race the next year (42:50) when the two rematched and Phelps got the better of him again. Cavic talked about the pressure surrounding that race in 2009 and why he looked much easier the night before in the semi finals.
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He talked about his respect and admiration for Phelps (46:00) and how much he respects him for the adversities he had overcome in his life. Cavic closed the interview by sharing what Pieter van den Hoogenband told him the night before the 100 fly final (59:00).
Milorad Cavic was the second man to break 50 seconds in the 100 butterfly in long course meters and also won a gold and a silver at the 2009 Worlds. He swam four years at Cal Berkeley and also was the 2002 Swimming World High School Swimmer of the Year. He is now a senior coach for King Aquatic Club in Washington State.