Two hours before a race Michael Phelps would conduct the exact same warmup swim every time, in the exact same order.
After the swim he would dry off, put on his headphones and sit on the massage table. Always sitting, never lying down.
From this point forward he would not speak to his coach or anyone else until after the race was over.
At 45 minutes before the race, he would get dressed for the race. At 30 minutes before, he would go to the warmup pool for a 600 meter swim.
At 10 minutes before the race he would walk to the ready room and find a place where he could sit alone. He would place his goggles on one side and his towel on the other.
When his race was called, he would walk to the blocks. He always approached the blocks from the left side. He would dry the block every time, perform the same two stretches in the exact same order always with the left leg first. Then he would remove the right earbud.
When his name was called he would remove the left earbud.
Phelps also had a routine for what to think about every night before going to sleep, and the first thing in the morning when he awoke.
He called it “watching the video tape,” and it was a visualization of the perfect race in slow motion. Every detail from getting on the blocks, to every stroke until he won the race.
During practice, when his coach wanted to challenge him he would simply say, “push the video tape.”