Born on June 30, 1985, Michael Fred Phelps II is a former competitive swimmer from the United States. With a total of 28 medals, Phelps is the most successful and decorated Olympian of all time. He also holds the all-time records for the most Olympic gold medals , individual event Olympic gold medals, and individual event Olympic medals . Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at a single Olympic Games when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. By earning six gold and two bronze medals at the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004, Phelps already tied the record for eight medals of any color in a single competition.
Phelps won four gold and two silver medals at the London Summer Olympics in 2012, and five gold and one silver at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics in 2016. For the fourth Olympics in a row, this made him the most successful athlete at the competition.
In addition to holding the long-course records for the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, and 200-meter individual medley, Phelps also holds the record for the men’s 400-meter individual medley. He has won 82 medals in significant international long course competitions, including the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships, of which 65 were gold, 14 silver, and three bronze. The World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award have each been given to Phelps eight times and eleven times, respectively. He also won the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016. Phelps’ remarkable Olympic victory earned him Sportsman of the Year honors from Sports Illustrated magazine.
Phelps established the Michael Phelps Foundation following the 2008 Summer Olympics, which aims to develop swimming as a sport and encourage better lifestyles. Phelps stopped competing after the 2012 Olympics, but he returned in April 2014. He was chosen by his squad to carry the American flag during the Parade of Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, his fifth Olympics. On August 12, 2016, he made his second retirement announcement, having outperformed 161 nations in terms of medal wins. He is frequently cited as one of the best athletes of all time and is widely recognized as the greatest swimmer of all time.
Early Life
Phelps is the youngest of three children. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and lived in the nearby city of Towson’s Rodgers Forge neighborhood. He attended Rodgers Forge Elementary, Dumbarton Middle School, and Towson High School. His father, Michael Fred Phelps, is a retired Maryland State Trooper who played football in high school and college and tried out for the team that is now known as the Washington Commanders in the 1970s. Phelps is of English, German, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. His parents divorced in 1994 when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 2000. His mother, Deborah Sue “Debbie” Phelps (née Davisson. Phelps subsequently admitted that the divorce had a terrible effect on him and his siblings and that he and his father had a strained relationship for a while following the divorce. 2003 saw his Towson High School graduation.
Career
Bob Bowman has been Phelps’ trainer since he was 11 years old. From 1983 to 1985, Bowman competed for Florida State University. Phelps claimed Bowman’s orderly and ordered behavior made him think of a drill sergeant. Phelps, though, has stated, “The wisest thing I’ve ever done was train with Bob. I won’t go swimming for anyone else.” After the 2004 Summer Olympics, Bowman was chosen to succeed Jon Urbanchek as head coach of the University of Michigan. Phelps trained with Bowman at Michigan for four years, attending classes but without pursuing a degree. Phelps volunteered as an assistant coach at Michigan. Bowman returned to Baltimore as the CEO of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club following the 2008 Summer Olympics. Bowman and Phelps traveled back to Baltimore together. In order to continue working with Bowman, Phelps relocated to Arizona when he was appointed men’s and women’s swimming coach at Arizona State University in 2015. There is a widespread misconception that Phelps consumed 12,000 calories a day, but Phelps has claimed that this is untrue and that he did not consume that many calories even when he was growing.
In response to unfounded rumors that Phelps might be using performance-enhancing drugs, Phelps was asked by the media during the 2008 Olympics if perhaps his accomplishments were “too good to be true. “Phelps replied that he had signed up for Project Believe, a program by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in which U.S. Olympians have the option to volunteer to undergo testing that goes beyond WADA’s restrictions. During the Games, Phelps passed each of the nine tests that were given to him.
Personal Life
Prior to a race, Phelps was described by Bob Bowman as “a solitary man”with a “strict focus”, but afterward, he was “a man extremely invested in the success of the people he cares about.”He describes Phelps’s relationship with small children after sessions, saying “he’s unbelievably kind-hearted.”
In response to unfounded rumors that Phelps might be using performance-enhancing drugs, Phelps was asked by the media during the 2008 Olympics if perhaps his accomplishments were “too good to be true. “Phelps replied that he had signed up for Project Believe, a program by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in which U.S. Olympians have the option to volunteer to undergo testing that goes beyond WADA’s restrictions. During the Games, Phelps passed each of the nine tests that were given to him.
