Michael Phelps

180px Michael Phelps, April 2009
Personal information
Full name	Michael Fred Phelps[1]
Nickname(s)	MP; The Baltimore Bullet[2]; Flying Fish[3]
Nationality	USA
Born	(1985-06-30) June 30, 1985 (age 26)[4] Baltimore, Maryland
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[4]
Weight	185 lbs. 83.9 kg[5]
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Backstroke, butterfly, freestyle, individual medley
Club	North Baltimore Aquatic Club
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly Gold 2004 Athens 200 m butterfly Gold 2004 Athens 200 m medley Gold 2004 Athens 400 m medley Gold 2004 Athens 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2004 Athens 4×100 m medley Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m butterfly Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m medley Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m medley Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle Gold 2008 Beijing 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2008 Beijing 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2008 Beijing 4×100 m medley Bronze 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle Bronze 2004 Athens 4×100 m freestyle World Championships – Long Course Gold 2001 Fukuoka 200 m butterfly Gold 2003 Barcelona 200 m butterfly Gold 2003 Barcelona 200 m medley Gold 2003 Barcelona 400 m medley Gold 2003 Barcelona 4×100 m medley Gold 2005 Montreal 200 m freestyle Gold 2005 Montreal 200 m medley Gold 2005 Montreal 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2005 Montreal 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2005 Montreal 4×100 m medley Gold 2007 Melbourne 200 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne 100 m butterfly Gold 2007 Melbourne 200 m butterfly Gold 2007 Melbourne 200 m medley Gold 2007 Melbourne 400 m medley Gold 2007 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 100 m butterfly Gold 2009 Rome 200 m butterfly Gold 2009 Rome 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 4×100 m medley Gold 2011 Shanghai 100 m butterfly Gold 2011 Shanghai 200 m butterfly Gold 2011 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m medley Silver 2003 Barcelona 100 m butterfly Silver 2003 Barcelona 4×200 m freestyle Silver 2005 Montreal 100 m butterfly Silver 2009 Rome 200 m freestyle Silver 2011 Shanghai 200 m freestyle Silver 2011 Shanghai 200 m medley Bronze 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle World Championships – Short Course Gold 2004 Indianapolis 200 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships Gold 2002 Yokohama 200 m medley Gold 2002 Yokohama 400 m medley Gold 2002 Yokohama 4×100 m medley Gold 2006 Victoria 200 m butterfly Gold 2006 Victoria 200 m medley Gold 2006 Victoria 400 m medley Gold 2006 Victoria 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2006 Victoria 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2010 Irvine 100 m butterfly Gold 2010 Irvine 200 m butterfly Gold 2010 Irvine 4x100 m freestyle Gold 2010 Irvine 4x200 m freestyle Gold 2010 Irvine 4x100 m medley Silver 2002 Yokohama 200 m butterfly Silver 2002 Yokohama 4×200 m freestyle Silver 2006 Victoria 200 m backstroke

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions. In doing so he has twice equaled the record eight medals of any type at a single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. His five gold medals in individual events tied the single Games record set by compatriot Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics; his eight at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972. Phelps' Olympic medal total is second only to the 18 Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won over three Olympics, including nine gold. Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals, at 14.

Phelps's international titles and record breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eight times. He has won a total of sixty-six medals in major international competition, fifty-four gold, nine silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.

After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael Phelps Foundation, which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. As a participant in the US Anti-Doping Agency's "Project Believe" program, Phelps is regularly tested to ensure that his system is clean of performance-enhancing drugs.

Early life[link]

Phelps was born and raised in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood of Towson, Maryland, a northwest suburb of Baltimore City.^[6] Michael was the youngest of three children. His mother, Deborah Sue "Debbie" (née Davisson), is a middle school principal.^[7] His father, Michael Fred Phelps, was a football player in high school and almost made the team for the Washington Redskins.^[7] His ancestry includes English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and German.^[8]

Phelps began swimming at the age of seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his energy.^[9] When Phelps was in the sixth grade, he was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).^[10][11] His parents divorced in 1994 and Michael and his sisters went to live with their mother. By the age of 10, he held a national record for his age group, and Phelps began to train at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman. More age group records followed, and Phelps' rapid improvement culminated in his qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15 and becoming the youngest male to make a U.S. Olympic swim team in 68 years.^[12] While he did not win a medal, he did make the finals and finished fifth in the 200-m butterfly.^[13]

At the World Championship Trials for the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, on 22 July, Phelps broke the world record in the 200-m butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record, breaking the record previously held by Ian Thorpe when he lowered the 400-m freestyle world record at 16 years, 10 months.^[14] At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Phelps broke his own world record in the 200-m butterfly en route to becoming a world champion for the first time.^[15]

2002 Pan Pacific Championships[link]

Pan Pacific medal record
2002 Yokohama – Men's swimming
Competitor for the  United States
Gold	200 m individual medley	1:59.70
Gold	400 m individual medley	4:12.48
Gold	4 × 100 m medley relay	3:33.48 (WR)
Silver	200 m butterfly	1.55.41
Silver	4×200 m freestyle relay	7:11.81

At Nationals, the selection meet for the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, in Fort Lauderdale, Phelps set an American record in the 200-m individual medley and was just off the world record in the 200-m butterfly.^[16] In the 400-m individual medley, Phelps bettered the world record held by Tom Dolan with a time of 4:11.09, just ahead of Erik Vendt, who finished second with a time of 4:11.27, also below the old world record. In the 200-m freestyle, Phelps was barely beaten by Klete Keller and in the 100 m butterfly, Phelps beat Ian Crocker.^[17]

At the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Phelps won three gold medals and two silvers. In his first event, the 400-m individual medley, Phelps won gold ahead of Erik Vent with a time of 4:12.48. In the 200-m butterfly, Phelps lost to Tom Malchow, finishing behind him 1:55.41 to 1:55.21. Phelps said he lost because he did not take butterfly training seriously after he broke the world record. In the 200-m individual medley, Phelps won with a time of 1:59.70. In the 4×200-m freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Nate Dusing, Klete Keller, and Chad Carvin, won the silver medal with a time 7:11.81 finishing behind Australia. The U.S. 4×100-m medley relay team consisted of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps, and Ian Crocker. In the final for the medley relay, Phelps swam a 51.1 split, at the time the fastest split in history. The final time of 3:33.48 was a world record.^[18]

2003 World Championships[link]

At Nationals, Phelps won the 200-m freestyle, 200-m backstroke, and the 100-m butterfly.^[19] He became the first American swimmer to win three different races in three different strokes at a national championship.^[19] At the 2003 Duel in the Pool, a meet that pits swimming stars from Australia and the United States, Phelps broke the world record in the 400-m individual medley with a time of 4:10.73 and almost broke the world record in the 100-m butterfly, just missing the record by 0.03 seconds.^[20] At a meet in Santa Clara, Phelps broke the world record in the 200-m individual medley with a time of 1:57.94.^[21] Phelps said he broke the 200-m individual medley world record after Don Talbot said Phelps was unproven, using his words as motivation.^[22]

At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships, Phelps won four gold medals, two silver medals, and broke five world records.^[23] Phelps broke his first world record on July 22 in the semi-finals for the 200-m butterfly. Phelps swam a 1:53.93 to break his own world record of 1:54.58 set in 2001 and became the first man to swim under 1:54.00.^[24] In the final of the 200-m butterfly, on July 23, Phelps easily won the gold medal, but did not come close to his world record with a time of 1:54.35.^[25] Less than an hour later, Phelps swam the lead-off leg for the 4×200-m freestyle relay. Phelps put up a solid time of 1:46.60 (an American record) but the Americans could not match the depth of the Australians and ultimately finished second 7:10.26 to 7:08.58.^[26] In the 200-m individual medley, Phelps showed complete dominance. On July 24, in the semifinals of the 200-m IM, Phelps broke his own world record with a time of 1:57.52.^[27] On July 25, in the final of the 200-m IM, Phelps smashed his own record with a time of 1:56.04 to win the gold medal and finished almost 3 seconds ahead of Ian Thorpe.^[28] About an hour before the final of the 200-m IM, Phelps swam in the semifinals of the 100-m butterfly. Phelps again showed dominance, finishing in the top seed with a world record time of 51.47.^[29] However, in the final of the 100-m butterfly, on July 26, Ian Crocker erased Phelps' world record with a time of 50.98, to become the first man under 51 seconds. Phelps swam a 51.10 (also under his former world record), but had to settle for silver.^[30] In the final of the 400-m individual medley, on July 27, Phelps broke his own world record with a time of 4:09.09 to easily claim the gold medal.^[31] About half an hour later, Phelps earned his final gold medal when the United States team won the 4×100-m medley relay.^[32] Phelps did not swim in the finals, but still earned a medal because he swam in the heats.^[33]

2004 Summer Olympics[link]

Trials[link]

At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Phelps competed in six events, including the 200- and 400-m IM, the 100- and 200-m butterfly, the 200-m freestyle, and the 200-m backstroke.^[34] In his first event, the 400-m individual medley, Phelps easily won with a world record time of 4:08.41.^[35] Two days later, in the 200-m freestyle, Phelps won with a time of 1:46.27, finishing sixth-tenths of a second ahead of Klete Keller.^[36] Phelps, however, was not pleased with the result and wanted to be in the 1:45s and was uncertain if he would swim the event in Athens.^[37] The following day, Phelps won in the 200-m butterfly with a time of 1:54.31, three seconds ahead of second place finisher Tom Malchow.^[38] After two days off, Phelps was back in the pool and finished second to Aaron Peirsol in the 200-m backstroke.^[39] Less than half an hour later, Phelps won the 200 m individual medley title ahead of Ryan Lochte by 2.70 seconds.^[40][41] The following day, Phelps finished second to Ian Crocker in the 100 m butterfly. Crocker won in a time of 50.76, a world record and 0.39 seconds ahead of Phelps.^[42] When the Trials were over, Phelps became the first person to qualify in six individual events for a U.S. Olympic team.^[43] However, Phelps dropped the 200-m backstroke to focus on the 200-m freestyle because he wanted to race Ian Thorpe.^[43] Even though Phelps didn't compete in the 100-m freestyle at the Trials, he was still selected for the 4×10-m freestyle relay. Gary Hall, Jr. thought this was unfair and said Phelps did not deserve a spot on the relay. Phelps argued his program was too crowded to compete in 100-m freestyle and was at least among the top four swimmers because he had beaten the top-seeded Jason Lezak the last time he had swum against him.^[44]

Olympics[link]

In his first event, the 400-m individual medley, Phelps won with a world record time of 4:08.26 to win his first Olympic gold medal.^[45][46] The following day, in the 4×100-m freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ian Crocker, Neil Walker, and Jason Lezak, finished in third place with a time of 3:14.62.^[47][48] Crocker's lead-off time of 50.05 was the worst among the field and was blamed on sickness.^[49][50] In the event many were calling The Race of the Century, held the following day, Phelps finished in third place behind Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200-m freestyle.^[51][52] Although this race ended the chance to match Spitz's record, Phelps had savored the challenge even though it was not his strongest event, saying "How can I be disappointed? I swam in a field with the two fastest freestylers of all time".^[53] In his fourth event, the 200-m butterfly, held the following day, Phelps finished first with a time of 1:54.04, breaking Tom Malchow's Olympic record.^[54][55] About an hour later, in the 4×200-m freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Klete Keller, finished in first place with a time of 7:07.33.^[56] Two days later, in the 200-m individual medley, Phelps finished first with a time of 1:57.14, an Olympic record.^[57] In the 100-m butterfly final, held the following day, Phelps defeated American teammate Ian Crocker (who held the world record in the event at the time) by just 0.04 seconds with a time of 51.25.^[58][59] Traditionally, the Olympian who places highest in an individual event will be automatically given the corresponding leg of the 4×100 m medley relay. This gave Phelps an automatic entry into the medley relay, but he deferred and Crocker swam instead.^[59][60] Phelps' gesture gave Crocker a chance to make amends as well getting his final shot at a gold medal.^[60] The American medley team went on to win the event in world-record time, and, since Phelps had raced in a preliminary heat of the medley relay, he was also awarded a gold medal along with the team members who competed in the final.^[61][62] In winning six gold and two bronze medals, Phelps, still a teenager, had the second-best performance ever at a single Olympics, behind Mark Spitz's seven gold medals in Munich in 1972. Also, he became the second male swimmer ever to win more than two individual titles at a single Games with four, tying Spitz's four from 1972.

2005 World Championships[link]

Victory lap of the 100 m butterfly during the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montréal. Phelps is far right.

At the 2005 World Championship Trials, Phelps decided to drop his specialty events, the 400-m individual medley and the 200-m butterfly, and experiment with the 400-m freestyle and the 100-m freestyle.^[63] Phelps went on to win the 400-m freestyle, the 200-m freestyle, the 100-m butterfly, the 100-m freestyle, and the 200-m individual medley at the Trials.^{[64][65][66][67][68]}

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Phelps won a total of six medals, 5 golds and one silver.^[69] In the 400-m freestyle, Phelps did not make it past the preliminary heats and finished 18th overall with a time of 3:50.53.^[70] Later that day, in the 4×100-m freestyle relay, Phelps won his first gold in the Championships.^[71] Two days later, on July 26, Phelps won his second gold in the 2000m freestyle with a new American record time of 1:45.20, finishing ahead of Grant Hackett.^[72] Two days later, on July 28, Phelps finished 7th in the 100-m freestyle final.^[73] Later that day, Phelps won his third gold in the 200-m individual medley.^[74] On July 29, Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay and Klete Keller, won the gold in the 4×200-m freestyle relay with a time of 7:06.58. This was the fourth gold medal for Phelps.^[75] On July 30, Phelps swam in his last individual event, the 100-m butterfly. In the final, Phelps could not match the speed of Ian Crocker and had to settle for silver, finishing 51.65 to 50.40.^[76] On July 31, Phelps earned his final gold medal when the United States team won the 4×100-m medley relay.^[77] Phelps did not swim in the finals but still earned a medal because he swam in the heats.^[78]

2006 Pan Pacific Championships[link]