Michael Phelps achieved another unprecedented feat: the first swimmer honored as Sports Illustrated’s sportsman of the year. Phelps broke Mark Spitz’s iconic record with eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in August and became the winningest Olympian ever with his 14 career victories. Olympians in other sports have earned the award before in its 54-year history, but never a swimmer. In 1972, the year Spitz won his medals, UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and tennis great Billie Jean King were honored by the magazine. “Honestly, I feel like the same person I’ve been my whole life,” Phelps told The Associated Press at a recent photo session where he posed for the Sports Illustrated cover. “I’m doing what I love. I was able to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish this year. It’s been a dream come true of a year, and I definitely couldn’t ask to change anything.” The 23-year-old Phelps follows a more traditional winner, NFL quarterback Brett Favre. Sports Illustrated Group editor Terry McDonell called the selection of Phelps “the easiest choice I have made.” “It is so obvious that he changed not only swimming, but the entire Olympic landscape,” McDonell said. Phelps captivated Americans during his record chase, driving up NBC’s television ratings and inspiring conversations about swimming among people who had never followed the sport before. He returned to the U.S. to the ultimate validation of pop culture relevance: He hosted the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” “The football players and basketball players and baseball players have it a little bit different. Everybody sees their faces more often,” Phelps said. “Just being able to have the attention of the American public is something I’ve always wanted for our sport. I’ve been able — not only myself but my teammates — have been able to work together to allow that to happen.”

Much kudos and congrats go out to Phelpsie on this latest achievement but WTF? is up with this coverphoto? I’m sorry … this photo is NOT cute. It’s almost not even human. The wet shirt doesn’t even do the trick … the whole think just looks ridiculous. Whoever approved this covershot for publication should be fired … and then beaten with a stick. What do y’all think … do any of y’all like this photo?

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It was the obvious cover shot. Whenever Sports Illustrated group editor Terry McDonell talked about Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ quest for eight gold medals, he was asked if the mag would do “the picture.” “They always said, ‘You know, the one like Mark Spitz with all the medals,’” McDonell laughed. “It was certainly an idea that occurred to us.” On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated will unveil its exclusive photo on newsstands across the country. On the cover, a grinning and bare-chested Phelps, 23, displays eight medals splayed across his chest in a nod to the man whose record he broke. “It is not lost on me that [the Spitz picture] is one of the most popular and iconic photos in all of sports,” McDonell said. McDonell said the cover was a way to visually and instantly portray the “dominant” story of the week. “This is about Michael going forward,” McDonell said. “This is an image that our readers and others will remember.”

And, in case you’re not familiar with Spitz’s iconic image, here it is for comparison:

To be totally honest, I think I have to give the hawtness edge to Mark Spitz … the sexy porn ’stache (which was so in vogue in the early 70’s) really works for him … but at least Phelpsie can content himself with having won more Gold Medals ;) After the jump, check out all of the Sports Illustrated magazine covers that Michael Phelps has appeared on (there are 6 total) …

Phelps makes a pretty good coverboy, no? I suspect we may be seeing him on quite a few more magazine covers … and, most likely, a Wheaties box, too. I totally love that the University of Michigan (where Phelps trained for the Beijing Olympic Games) got props on the College Issue cover cuz, you know, U of M rocks!

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