Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American competition swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals, Olympic gold medals in individual events, and Olympic medals in individual events for a male. In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps took the record away from fellow American swimmer Mark Spitzfor the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth30 June 1985
CityBaltimore, MD
CountryUnited States of America
When the Australians walked out, the crowd went nuts, and when we walked out, the crowd went even more nuts. I can't describe how amazing that was. Three thousand people were here rooting for the two strongest swimming nations. I'll never forget that, and I was glad to be part of it.
With everything that's been going on, it's probably a decent swim for right now.
We wanted to secure the top spot, we wanted to be safe on the relay takeoffs, ... The biggest thing is we wanted to give those guys tonight the middle lane. We expect a fast swim from those four guys.
One thing with me, and every goal I've had - - in the sport of swimming, my mother didn't know my goals. The only person that knew my goals were my coaches.
The only reason I started swimming was for water safety. Then, once I started falling in love with sports, I got more comfortable with it.
Swimming is fun. It's a lot funner than golf.
It's the Olympics. If you can't get up to swim early in the morning, don't go.
I wanted to do something nobody ever did. This goes hand in hand with my goal of changing swimming.
Swimming is normal for me. I'm relaxed. I'm comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It's my home.
I won't predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.
This is my 20th year in the sport. I've known swimming and that's it. I don't want to swim past age 30; if I continue after this Olympics, and come back in 2016, I'll be 31. I'm looking forward to being able to see the other side of the fence.
It's cool just because I've had this dream of changing the sport of swimming and it's finally happening.
Why is it such a big deal what I'm swimming?
I wanted to get the fastest time in the world this year, but with everything going on, it's a pretty decent swim, ... I knew I was under world record pace. You could tell by the crowd. You can always tell at these meets when something good is going on because of the crowd.