BEIJING  His work here done, Michael Phelps spent a few minutes Sunday hitting the highlights.

Meeting the Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the athletes’ village was one. Phelps said he approached Nadal and introduced himself, explaining, “He’s probably one of my favorite tennis players to watch on TV.”

After surpassing Mark Spitz as the most decorated athlete in a single Olympics, Phelps will probably require no further introductions. His successful pursuit of eight gold medals was the story of the first week of the Beijing Games.

From what Phelps has heard, the race that delivered his eighth medal  the 4x100-meter medley relay on Sunday morning  was shown at sports bars, neighborhood Olympic parties and the giant video screens at the stadium where Phelps’s hometown Baltimore Ravens were playing a preseason game.

Now comes the hard part.

The 23-year-old Phelps wants to keep people tuned into swimming, but how?

“I don’t want this sport to be an every-four-years sport,” said Phelps, who plans to compete through the 2012 Olympics in London. “In between the four years, there’s really not as much exposure as I’d like.”