With the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games now less than a month away, I thought it time to take a look at some of Maryland's Olympic contenders. Of course, Michael Phelps is the superstar, not just here in Baltimore but internationally. So I'll start with Phelps, and next week I'll cover his fellow Olympic swimmer Katie Hoff.

While "superstar" might sound like hyperbole, there really is no better way to describe the Towson high graduate, who is poised to break several Olympic records in Beijing, not the least of which is the seven gold medals in one Olympic Games earned by Mark Spitz in 1972. In 2004 he won eight medals (six gold and two bronze), tying the records for the most medals in a single Olympics. Phelps made his first Olympic appearance at age 15 in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

In April 2008, Phelps announced that he would move back to Baltimore after a four-year stint in Ann Arbor, MI, where he attended the University of Michigan.

Swimming has always been a way of life for Phelps. His two older sisters were also competitive swimmers, who like Phelps and Hoff trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club in Mount Washington. When he was young his parents found that the sport was a good way to channel the excess energy of the Rodgers Forge native, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Read Full Profile

Phelps Photo Gallery

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