BEIJING -- Walk into the airport in China's capital and you're immediately hit with a very large poster of Michael Phelps celebrating the 2008 Olympics.

Walk past any television and there's a good chance you're going to see a highlight of one of Phelps' world records thus far in Beijing -- especially his bellow at the end of the 400-meter freestyle relay on Monday morning.

It's as if no other swimmers are here.

And that's probably all right with Ian Crocker, the 25-year-old Portland native and Cheverus High graduate.

As he prepares for Thursday's preliminary race in the 100-meter butterfly -- an event in which he holds the world record (50.40 seconds) -- Crocker is clearly considered second-best behind Phelps, who is trying to win a record eight gold medals in one Olympics.

"It doesn't bother me," said Crocker, Maine's most decorated Summer Games Olympian, with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. "I'm just going to go as fast as I possibly can and race against the very best in the world. I'll deal with the race at the time of the race, and it really doesn't matter what anybody has said or written before the race."

Even though all eyes will be on Phelps, Crocker said he faces pressure as well. "In international competition, there's always pressure from the field to go out and perform to the best of your ability," said Crocker. "But the most pressure is on Michael. He can take that pressure."

Crocker's mother, Gail Crocker, called her son and Phelps "respectful colleagues and friends," and those friends will have the spotlight in the prelims, which start at 7:40 a.m. (EDT) Thursday at the National Aquatics Center, otherwise known as The Cube.

But they are as different as two people can be. Phelps is everywhere, a sponsor's dream. Crocker would be happy if no one bothered him.

After training Tuesday, Crocker spent time at the pool with some of the younger members of the U.S. swim team, who have been a bit in awe of their Olympic surroundings.

"I'm glad he did that," said his mother. "It shows that he's not bothered by anything."

Crocker said it was time well spent.

"I was just trying to keep them focused on what they need to do and to keep smiling," he said. "Because you can come to the Olympics and forget to smile and have fun."

Helping the Olympic rookies helps Crocker remain grounded. Not that he needs much help. According to Gail Crocker, her son's appearance in his third Olympics -- he won medals in both 2000 and 2004 -- has been more about the journey than anything else.

"I tell people, with Ian, it's not about the swimming," she said. "The swimming is just a medium in which he has enjoyed success. He was committed to seeing how fast he can go. But it's really about how that journey has formed him as a human being."

He has certainly gone further in the butterfly than he could have ever dreamed. When Crocker first joined the U.S. swim team, it was in the 200 freestyle. Then, when attempting to make the 2000 Olympic team, he did not make the cut in the 50, 100 or 200 free.

As a last attempt, he swam the 100 butterfly.

"It was the last gasp for him," said his father, Rick. "It's really hard to believe that the kid we put in the pool at the age of 8 to get rid of some of his energy has gone as far as he's gone.

"And we never pushed him. He was the primary driver. The kid has got to want it bad to achieve what he, or any of the swimmers, have achieved."

Since qualifying for the Olympics by finishing second to Phelps in the 100 butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Trials -- Phelps has won the past four races between the two -- Crocker has been getting plenty of rest. He wants to make sure his body is primed to go fast, because "the world is moving ahead very rapidly," he said.

He has watched the first few days of the swimming competition, with world records falling almost hourly.

"I know I've got to get ready to go faster," he said.

He said he wants to have a "solid race and a smart race" in the prelims to set himself up for the semifinals and finals.

In the end, he really just wants to swim.

When he made his first Olympics team, in 2000, he was a relative unknown who earned a gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay.

Eight years later, not many folks are paying attention to him -- again.

"It is very similar," he said. "It's very similar."