More: Phelps' World Championship and Olympic Medals
Phelps Photos
Early Career
From age 11, Phelps trained with his coach Bob Bowman at North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) in Mount Washington. (The nationally recognized swim club at Meadowbrook Aquatic & Fitness Center is also where Phelps' Olympic teammate Katie Hoff trains.) At 15, he surprised even himself when he made the 2000 U.S. Olympic swim team. He placed 5th in his one event, the 200-meter butterfly.After winning a gold medal in that same event in the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Phelps turned it up a notch two years later at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. He took first place in four events and second in two. But all that was just preview for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
2004 Athens Olympics
Phelps’ 8 medals in all tied with Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin (1980) for the most medals in a single Olympic Games. Four of his six gold medals were for individual events (100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter individual medley).The two events in Athens in which Phelps took bronze medals were 200-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
2004 to 2008
While Phelps’ official residence is Ann Arbor, MI, until after the Beijing Games, his future is back in Baltimore. The Towson High grad announced in April 2008 that he was moving back to Baltimore.In 2004, Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman took the job of University of Michigan swim coach. After a short stint at Princeton University, Phelps followed Bowman to Ann Arbor where he attended the UM, studying sports marketing and management. Because of his professional status, Phelps could not swim for the University of Michigan. He did, however, work as a volunteer assistant for the team.
In 2006, Phelps dropped his classes at UM and turned his attention full-time to his swimming career and his media endorsements.
Both have continued to flourish ever since. His endorsement contracts include Speedo, Visa, Omega watches and electronics maker Matsunichi. Speedo will pay him a $1 million bonus if he wins 7 gold medals in Beijing.
In 2007, he dominated the World Championships in Melbourne, where he won 7 gold medals, setting 5 world records (200-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter individual medley and 4x200-meter freestyle relay). He was denied the chance to compete for the 8th medal in a 4-person relay team event when the U.S. team was disqualified in the preliminaries.
Personal Life
Phelps grew up in Rodgers Forge, a Baltimore County neighborhood near the city’s northern border. When Phelps was 9, his mother, Debbie, a Baltimore County Public Schools administrator, and his father, Fred, a Maryland State Police officer, divorced. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and two older sisters Whitney and Hilary, who were both swimmers.Hilary, 7 years older than Phelps, eventually earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Richmond, where she set several school records. And Whitney, 5 years older, was the national champion in the 200-meter butterfly at age 14, but an injury caused her to just miss making the U.S. Olympic swim team in 1996 .
Competitive swimming was always part of the Phelps family life, but it was particularly good for Michael. Diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), swimming was a good outlet for his energy.
Phelps attended Baltimore County public schools Rodgers Forge Elementary, Dumbarton Middle and Towson High. Phelps missed most of his sophomore year thanks to the Sydney Games, but still graduated in 2003. In 2004, the street in front of Towson High School (formerly Cedar Avenue) was renamed “Michael Phelps Way.”
In November 2004, Phelps made unfortunate headlines when he was charged with driving under the influence. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. As part of his plea agreement, he spoke at schools and Mothers Against Drunk Driving events.
