Michael Phelps, Sabrina Ionescu salute Caitlin Clark, Iowa Final Four team

Caitlin Clark sees another sports icon whenever she uses her phone.

In a social media video for the NCAA ahead of the Final Four, the Iowa star shared that an image of Michael Phelps swimming is the screensaver on her phone.

“It’s pretty tough,” Clark said of the picture.

Phelps responded on social media.

“Honored!!! This is so cool!” he tweeted with a sunglasses emoji.

Clark didn’t share why Phelps’ image is her phone screensaver, but it’d be understandable if she uses his career as motivation. The legendary swimmer broke records at a young age, winning six gold medals and two bronze medals as a 19-year-old at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Four years later, Phelps broke the record for most gold medals won in an Olympic Games, winning eight in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Phelps continued his domination over the next two Summer Olympics, winning a total of nine gold medals and three silver medals. He finished his career with the most Olympic gold medals (23) and most total medals (28).

Clark has made basketball history this season. She broke Kelsey Plum‘s record for the most points scored by a Division I women’s player in February. A few weeks later, she broke Pete Maravich’s record for the most points scored by any player in Division I history.

During Iowa’s postseason run, Clark broke the record for most 3-pointers made by a men’s or women’s player in a single season in Division I history. She’s also become the first women’s player to score more than 1,000 points in different seasons in Division I history, broke the record for the most points in a single season in women’s Division I history, broke the record for most 3-pointers made by women’s player in Division I history and broke the NCAA tournament career marks in assists and 3-pointers.

Clark also made nine 3-pointers in Iowa’s Elite Eight win over LSU, which was the most ever made in an NCAA Tournament game. That was part of a 41-point, 12-assist effort from Clark to get the Hawkeyes back to the Final Four. 

Another women’s basketball star greeted Clark and Iowa in Cleveland on Wednesday. Sabrina Ionescu surprised the team with Nike shoes, gifting the Hawkeyes her Sabrina 1’s.

“Enjoy playing for one another,” Ionescu said to the team in a video shared by Iowa on social media. “You’re never going to get another room like this. There’s never going to be another team that you guys are going to be on that’s like this. Be proud of how you guys have represented yourself, represented your team and what you’ve done for everyone, not just Iowa basketball.”

Iowa takes on UConn in the semifinal on Friday.

 

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