Phelps reaches the end, so limitless and free

This is the end, so limitless and free, Jim Morrison sang, and so it came on this Saturday night for Michael Phelps, the one and only, the greatest athlete in Olympic history. In what he said repeatedly would be his last competitive swim, Phelps, 27, swam the butterfly leg of the men's 4x100 medley relay for the U.S. team on the final night of the swim meet at the 2012 Olympic Games, the Americans winning in 3:29.35. Paul Drinkwater/NBCOlympics.com 1 of 34 The U.S.'s Jessica Hardy prepares for the women's 50m freestyle race. The victory gave Phelps his 22nd Olympic medal, his 18th gold. He finished these Games with six medals -- four gold, two silver. He became the first male swimmer to throw the Olympic three-peat, and did it in not just one event but two, the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly. The medley victory also made him the third person to win three golds in that event, along with Jason Lezak and Ian Crocker. "I have been able," he said late Saturday in emphasizing he truly is retiring from racing, "to do everything I wanted." Phelps always said three things: Anything is possible. He wanted to be the first Michael Phelps. And he wanted to grow the sport of swimming. Here is indisputable evidence that he did so: the BBC cut away from what had been the glamour sport of the Olympic Games, track and field, to go live showing the American men winning the medley before returning to heptathlon action at the track. The Phelps show at these London Games went down in three distinct acts. Related to this article Related Video Michael Phelps Gets Emotional After Final Race Andrea Kramer speaks with the US Men's 4x100m medley relay team after they capture gold, and Michael Phelps gets emotional talking about the end of his career. Highlights: Michael Phelps Awarded His Final Gold MedalExpert Analysis: Phelps Calls It A CareerHighlights: U.S. Women Set World Record, Win Gold In 4x100m Medley Related Slideshows PHOTOS: 22 Olympic Medals A look through all of Michael Phelps' Olympic medals. Swimming: Day 7 FinalsSwimming: Day 6 FinalsSwimming: Day 5 Finals Stories Both U.S.Relays Win Gold Missy Franklin sweeps the backstrokes in record time Katie Ledecky wins Olympic gold in front of a royal audience Phelps doubles up on three-peats with win in 100m butterfly Ryan Lochte finishes London Olympics with five medals: Success or failure? Franklin, Phelps and Ledecky all win gold for U.S. By The Numbers Results Michael Phelps Bio Ryan Lochte Bio Missy Franklin Bio Katie Ledecky Bio The first played itself out at the outset of the Games, in the 400 IM, when Phelps -- who hadn't trained for the race -- finished fourth, behind gold medalist Ryan Lochte. Here Phelps seemed the sympathetic champion with apparently diminished talent and resignation, facing the end of his stellar career. The next act revealed itself in particular through the freestyle relays, in which the Americans first picked up a silver in the 4x100 free and then gold in the 4x200, and in the 200 butterfly, in which Phelps finished second, behind South African Chad le Clos. In that 200 fly, Phelps uncharacteristically made a mistake, gliding to the wall when he should have done what he did in winning the 100 fly in Beijing four years ago, take another half-stroke. In defeat, Phelps proved gracious in praise of le Clos, saying time and again that he could see le Clos -- started swimming watching Phelps race in Athens in 2004 -- becoming a versatile champion in years to come. Finally, Act III -- in which Phelps staged a glorious end triumph and issued reminders to any and all doubters of why he is and will forever be the greatest Olympic athlete ever. He won the 200 IM. He won the 100 fly. He reclaimed the lead in the medley for the U.S. team and they won gold, too, lifting the American swim team to 30 medals for the 2012 Games. When he burst onto the scene in Sydney in 2000, Phelps was 15. Now he is 27. Here, as just one example, Katie Ledecky is 15. She won gold in the 800. Here, in another, Missy Franklin is 17. She won five medals, four golds, sweeping both the 100 and 200 backstroke events; she swam the opening backstroke leg Saturday in the women's medley, won by the U.S. in world-record time, 3:52.05. As Franklin told the Associated Press, "I don't think his shoes will ever be filled. Hopefully, I can make little paths next to him." There are those, of course, who doubt the Phelps assertion he is through swimming competitively. The 2000 gold medalist Anthony Ervin, for one, who finished fifth in the 50-meter free here in London, issued this rejoinder via Twitter late Saturday: "If @MichaelPhelps never races again, I'll eat my fins." That said, how many actors get to choose the time, place and manner by which they get to leave the stage? "If Michael does come back, I'll be the first to cheer," said Chuck Wielgus, the executive director of USA Swimming. But I think he has given himself the perfect opportunity to transition. So few athletes have the opportunity, or are able to see that opportunity -- to have that perspective, and self-awareness. He's one of the blessed few." In London, the U.S. team finished with four more golds and one less overall medal than in 2008 in Beijing. "This particular team," Wielgus said, "was so imbued with spirit and caring for each other, the veterans and the rookies. There was not one bit of drama," and in measure that was because of leadership that came from Phelps. "Certainly winning medals helps. But it doesn't change who they are. Are we satisfied? We are over the moon. It has nothing to do with medals. It has everything to do with the way these athletes conducted themselves, the way they represented themselves and their country." In that same song, Morrison asks, can you picture what will be? The answer is not yet clear. All we know is what we have seen. And it has been beautiful. "When I was in the warm-down pool, and I said to Bob," meaning Bob Bowman, the coach who has been been there with him since he was 11, "I said, 'I have looked up to Michael Jordan my whole life because he has done something nobody else has ever done and he is the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. "And I said, 'You know what? We have been able to become the greatest -- I've been able to become the best swimmer of all time. I said, 'We got here together.' I thanked him. It was funny. "When I got out of the pool, he was, like, 'That's not fair.' "I said, 'What's not fair about it?' "He goes, 'You were in the pool.' "I was, like, 'Yeah, my tears could hide behind my goggles.' I was, like, 'Yours are streaming down your face.'" © 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use, reproduction, modification, distribution, display or performance of this material without NBCUniversal's prior written consent is prohibited.