EYES ON LONDON

It's been four years since swimmer Michael Phelps made history by adding eight gold medals to his total medal count of 16 at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

This summer all eyes will be on the rivalry between Phelps and fellow American swimmer, Ryan Lochte, as the two go head to head in London.

"I look up to Phelps professionally but I hope Lochte wins," said Devin Teer, 19, of Marietta. "As far as swimming, Phelps is the best but it's weird to watch the same person win every time."

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The 2012 Summer Olympics opened in London on Friday, kicking off 16 days of competition in everything from archery to soccer - or as the Brits call it "football" - to diving and mountain biking.

Teer plans to watch all of the swimming events he can during this summer's XXX Olympiad. The Marietta High School graduate and former Marietta Marlins swim team member will head to the University of Arizona in two weeks to start practice with the NCAA Division One winning swim team there.

"I do the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly," Teer said, both of which are events in which Phelps will compete.

The first swim event will be the Men's 400m Individual Medley on Saturday at 10 a.m. Phelps holds the world record in this event at 4:03.84.

There has been talk that Phelps will retire as soon as his hand hits the wall in his last heat and Teer thinks he will make good on his plan.

"I guess if I was (Phelps) I would retire when I'm at the top," he said.

Teer won't be the only local resident keeping tabs on the games in the coming days.

"I probably won't be able to watch it on TV but I may try to watch it online," said Ken Kupsche, owner of the Cook's Shop, and an avid mountain biker.

The men's and women's mountain bike race portion of the Olympic Games will be held starting at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 11. Kupsche, who at age 58 has only been racing mountain bikes for a couple years, will be offering a clinic on Aug. 10 and 11 at 10 a.m. as part of Rivers, Trails and Ales Festival and won't be able to watch, though he knows a lot about the Olympic event.

"Mountain biking has been part of the Olympics since 1996 and it is gaining in popularity but cyclists are usually unknown unless they win the Tour de France," he said.

Kupsche explained that, while typical mountain bike races are set in the woods and aren't much of a spectator sport, the mountain bike event at this year's Olympics will be anything but dull.

"They have built a course at Hadleigh Farm that is over 500 acres, three miles long, and there will be arena seating and wide screen TVs," he said.

The course will feature mud, rocks, grass and woody areas.

"There is a chance that someone could fall so it's not going to be boring," Kupsche said.

Eyes will likely also be on another Olympic event when the U.S.A. Men's Basketball team kicks off its quest for Olympic gold yet again.

The team, comprised of the NY Knicks' Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, the LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Miami's LeBron James, among others, faces France on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker, a native of France, will lead his country's first Olympic appearance since 2000.

Those hoping to catch Kobe and the gang or women's gymnastic standouts Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas can check out some of the events at Blacksmith Barbecue, in the former No Idea Sports Bar location at Comfort Inn on Pike Street.

"We'll have 10 TVs and a projector and we'll probably have all of them on (the Olympics)," said Melissa Miklovik, 23, a bartender at the restaurant who also plans to catch some of the events if she can.

"I definitely like to watch gymnastics and diving. Oh, and Michael Phelps. He sure looks good in his speedo," she laughed.