Michael Phelps

For other people named Michael Phelps, see Michael Phelps (disambiguation).

Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American swimmer and world-record holder (as of 2005).

Michael at the Olympic Games in 2004

Michael at the Olympic Games in 2004

Michael Phelps (at the age of 15) first appeared at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as the youngest American male swimmer at an Olympic Games in 68 years. While he did not win a medal, Phelps proceeded to make a name for himself in swimming shortly thereafter. Five months after the Sydney Olympics, Phelps broke the world record in the 200m butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record. He then broke his own record again at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (1:54.58). At the 2002 Summer Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Phelps also broke the world record for the 400m individual medley and set American marks in the 100m butterfly and the 200m individual medley.

In 2003, Phelps broke his own world record in the 400m individual medley (4:09.09) and in June, he broke the world record in the 200m individual medley (1:56.04). Then on July 7, 2004, Phelps broke his own world record again in the 400m individual medley (4:08.41) during the U.S. trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

He won the 2003 Sullivan Award.

2004 Summer Olympic Games

Phelps' dominance has brought comparisons to former swimming great Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Summer Olympics, a world record. Phelps had the chance to break that record in the 2004 Athens Olympics by competing in eight swimming events: the 200m freestyle, the 100m butterfly, the 200m butterfly, the 100m backstroke, the 200m backstroke, the 200m individual medley, the 400m individual medley, the 4x100m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay. Unfortunately, his 4x100m freestyle relay team only won the bronze medal, and he personally placed for bronze in the 200m freestyle. Thus, he fell just short of that record. However, he did win eight medals in one Olympics, a feat only achieved by Aleksandr Dityatin, a gymnast, in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

Michael Phelps' 2004 Summer Olympics Events
Final medal count: 8 (6 gold, 2 bronze)
Date	Event	Final Time	Metal
August 14	400m individual medley	4:08.26 WR	GOLD
August 15	4x100m freestyle relay	3:14:62	BRONZE
August 16	200m freestyle	1:45.32 AR	BRONZE
August 17	200m butterfly	1:54.04 OR	GOLD
	4x200m freestyle relay	7:07.33	GOLD
August 19	200m individual medley	1:57.14 OR	GOLD
August 20	100m butterfly	0:51.25 OR	GOLD
August 21	4x100m medley relay	3:31:54* WR	GOLD
WR: World Record; OR: Olympic Record; AR: American Record
*Phelps swam in the preliminary heat but not the final.

Had he won seven golds, he would have been eligible for a US $1 million bonus from his sponsor, Speedo. Only a few days before the beginning of the swimming competition in Athens 2004, however, Gary Hall Jr. and Jason Lezak, both of whom were aiming to be on the U.S. 4x100m freestyle team, publicly criticized the possibility of allowing Phelps to swim in the event. In the view of some, they claimed that Phelps is not a top swimmer in the event and his presence could compromise the US team's performance in the name of what was called a "media circus" for Phelps to win eight gold medals. More specifically though, they claimed that he had not swum the 100m freestyle at Olympic Trials, and although having posted one of the top times in the nation, he should not have expected to gain an automatic berth.

On August 14, 2004, he won his first Olympic gold, in the 400m individual medley, setting another new world record (4:08.26).

On August 20, in the 100m butterfly final, Phelps defeated American teammate Ian Crocker (who holds the world record in the event) by just 0.04 seconds. Traditionally, the Olympian who places highest in an individual event will be automatically given the corresponding leg of the 4x100m medley relay. This gave Phelps an automatic entry into the medley relay, but as he was exhausted from the many races he had competed in over the preceding week, he graciously gave up the butterfly leg in the finals to Crocker. The American medley team went on to win the event in world record time, and since he had raced in a preliminary heat of the medley relay, Phelps was also awarded a gold medal along with the team members that competed in the final.

See also: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Selected events

Phelps graduated Towson High School in the Summer of 2003.

On November 4, 2004, Phelps was arrested in Salisbury, Maryland for driving under the influence after being pulled over for running a stop sign in his Land Rover with two friends. Phelps, who was 19 at the time (21 is the legal drinking age in Maryland), was arrested and cited for driving under the influence of alcohol. His specific blood alcohol content was .08. Phelps pled guilty to driving while impaired, avoiding charges of driving under the influence, underage drinking and failure to stop at a stop sign.

On December 29, 2004, Phelps was sentenced to 18 months of probation. He was also fined $250, required to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving meeting, and to give speeches to students at three high schools by June 1, 2005.

As of 2005, Phelps is attending University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Phelps is following his longtime coach, Bob Bowman, who left Phelps' previous swim team, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, to become the head swimming coach of the University of Michigan varsity swim team. Phelps is also serving as a volunteer assistant coach and is taking classes, intending to major in sports marketing or sports management. Phelps cannot swim for the team, however, because his endorsement deal with Speedo has caused him to forfeit his amateur status.

Major Achievements

International

Year	Meet	Venue	Distance	Event	Result
2001	World Championships (LC)	Fukuoka, Japan	200m	Butterfly	1st
2002	Pan Pacific Championships	Yokohama, Japan	200m	Butterfly	2nd
	Pan Pacific Championships	Yokohama, Japan	200m	Individual Medley	1st
	Pan Pacific Championships	Yokohama, Japan	400m	Individual Medley	1st
	Pan Pacific Championships	Yokohama, Japan	800m	Freestyle	2nd
	Pan Pacific Championships	Yokohama, Japan	4 x 400m	Medley Relay	1st
2003	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	100m	Butterfly	2nd
	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	200m	Butterfly	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	200m	Individual Medley	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	400m	Individual Medley	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	4 x 200m	Freestyle Relay	2nd
	World Championships (LC)	Barcelona, Spain	4x100m	Medley Relay	1st
2004	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	200m	Freestyle	3rd
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	100m	Butterfly	1st
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	200m	Butterfly	1st
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	200m	Individual Medley	1st
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	400m	Individual Medley	1st
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	4 x 100m	Medley Relay	1st
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	4 x 100m	Freestyle Relay	3rd
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	4 x 200m	Freestyle Relay	1st
	World Championships (SC)	Indianapolis, USA	200m	Freestyle	1st
2005	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	200m	Freestyle	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	100m	Butterfly	2nd
	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	200m	Individual Medley	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	4 x 100m	Medley Relay	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	4 x 100m	Freestyle Relay	1st
	World Championships (LC)	Montréal, Canada	4 x 200m	Freestyle Relay	1st

LC: long course - 50m pool; SC: short course - 25m pool.

U.S. National Titles

100m free (3): '05 SPG, '04 SPG, '03 SUM

200m free (4): '05 SPG, '04 SPG, '03 SUM (AR), '03 SPG

400m free (2): '05 SPG, '03 SUM (AR)

200m back (3): '04 SPG, '03 SUM, '03 SPG

100m fly (5): '05 SPG, '04 SPG (USO), '03 SPG, '02 SUM (AR), ’01 SUM

200m fly (3): '05 SUM, '02 SUM (USO), '01 SPG (WR)

200m IM (5): '05 SPG, '04 SPG, '03 SUM (WR), '02 SUM (AR), ’01 SUM

400m IM (1): '02 SUM (WR)

KRM

Records

Record	Distance	Event	Time	Location	Date
WR	200m	Butterfly	1:53.93	Barcelona, Spain	2003, July 22
	200m	Individual Medley	1:55.94	College Park, Md.	2003, August 9
	400m	Individual Medley	4:08.26	Athens, Greece	2004, August 14
AR	200m	Freestyle	1:45.20	Montréal, Canada	2005, July 26
	4x200m	Freestyle Relay	7:06.58	Montréal, Canada	2005, July 29
	200m	Freestyle (short course)	1:43.59	Indianapolis, Ind.	2004, October 7
	200m	Butterfly (short course)	1:52.27	Melbourne, AUS	2003, November 28
	200m	Individual Medley (short course)	1:54.85	Melbourne, AUS	2003, November 29
	200y	Freestyle	1:32.08	Austin, Texas	2005, March 3
	200y	Butterfly	1:41.72	Annapolis, Md.	2003, March 10

External links

• Michael Phelps official web site
• Official U.S. Olympic Team bio ... with links to photo galleries and Q&As
• Michael Phelps' official fan site
• Stroke by Stroke: How Michael Phelps turbocharged his repertoire (photos).

• Michael Phelps on shaving your back and behind your knees