Michael Phelps stole the show at the 2004 Olympics by winning eight medals, including six golds, and he has his sights set on an even greater feat in Beijing. The lanky American has entered the same eight events at the Games in August - the 100 and 200 metres butterfly, the 200 and 400 individual medley, the 200 freestyle and the three relays - and this time Phelps is favourite to win the lot.
If successful, he will break Mark Spitz's record of winning seven gold medals at a single Olympics, set in Munich in 1972. Even if he wins just half his events, Phelps will become the most prolific gold medallist of all time, surpassing the record career tallies of nine jointly shared by Spitz, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and Larysa Latynina.
The retirement of Australia's Ian Thorpe, who beat Phelps in the "race of the century" in Athens, has removed one major obstacle although he will still need a slice of luck in the Beijing National Aquatic Centre, known as the Water Cube.
At last year's world championships in Melbourne, Phelps won seven golds, as well as setting five individual world records, but missed out on a possible eighth when the United States were disqualified from the medley relay because of a team mate's error.
The pressure on Phelps to win eight golds is already intense even though the 23-year-old has been reluctant to talk about his prospects, sticking to the sportsman's mantra that he is taking things one race at a time.
Spitz is convinced his long-standing record will be sunk in Beijing and predicts Phelps will "win by margins and set times that have never been done before". And the American broadcaster that purchased the television rights for Beijing is so confident his performances will be the highlight of the Games that they persuaded the International Olympic Committee to switch the swimming finals to the morning in Beijing so they would fit in with prime-time US viewing.
It was a decision that was initially greeted with howls of protest but this reaction has simmered down with the knowledge that swimming, thanks almost entirely to Phelps, is poised to be the biggest sport of the Games.
While Phelps' ambitious bid has dominated the headlines, he is not the only swimmer striving for a place among the sport's immortals in Beijing. American team mate Katie Hoff has also entered five individual events and is a candidate for the relays as she eyes Kristin Otto's record of six swimming golds, won in Seoul in 1988.
Australia's Grant Hackett and Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands are also bidding to become the first male swimmers to win the same individual event at three Olympics, a feat that proved beyond Spitz. Hackett, the undisputed king of long-distance swimming, is chasing a hat-trick of titles in the 1500 freestyle while van den Hoogenband is eyeing a third success in the 100 freestyle, despite losing his world record to Frenchman Alain Bernard.
The build-up to Beijing has been dominated by a spate of world records that have coincided with the introduction of a controversial space-age bodysuit. The sport's governing body FINA say tests prove the LZR suits are not responsible for the flood of records. Critics say they have turned the sport into a battle between the haves and have-nots.
Australia's Libby Trickett, who broke the women's 50 and 100 freestyle world records, said wearing the suit made her feel like she was swimming downhill. Germany's Britta Steffen, the former world record holder for the 100, said the introduction of the suits was turning swimming into a sport like Formula One where technology rules.
The US and Australia, swimming's traditional rivals, are again certain to dominate events in Beijing with the Americans expected to prevail in the men's events and the Australians favoured in the women's.
The US boast the world record holders in eight of the 13 men's individual events plus the three relays while the Australian team includes the world record holders in six women's individual events as well as the medley relay. Beijing will also enter unchartered waters by including 10 kilometre open water events for the first time, stretching the swimming programme over an unprecedented 11 days.