마이클 펠프스

마이클 펠프스

2016년 하계 올림픽 펠프스 선수단
개인정보
풀네임	마이클 프레드 펠프스 2세
닉네임	"볼티모어 [1]총알 "날아다니는 물고기"[2]
국가대표팀	미국
태어난	(1985-06-30) 1985년 6월 30일 (36세) 미국 메릴랜드 주 볼티모어
높이	6피트 4인치(1.93m)[3]
무게	194파운드(88kg)[4]
배우자	니콜 존슨
스포츠
스포츠	수영
스트로크	나비, 개인혼영, 자유형, 배영
클럽	노스 볼티모어 아쿠아틱 클럽
코치	밥 보우먼
메달 기록 남자 수영 미국을 대표하는 이벤트 1일 두 번째 3번째 올림픽 경기 23 3 2 세계 선수권 대회(LC) 26 6 1 세계 선수권 대회(SC) 1 0 0 범태평양 선수권 대회 16 5 0 합계 66 14 3 인종별 이벤트 1일 두 번째 3번째 나비 100m 8 3 0 나비 200m 10 2 0 메들리 200m 9 2 0 메들리 400m 6 0 0 자유형 200m 4 2 1 배영 200m 0 1 0 100m 자유형 4×100m 7 2 2 자유형 4×200m 11 2 0 메들리 4×100m 11 0 0 합계 66 14 3 올림픽 경기 2004년 아테네 나비 100m 2004년 아테네 나비 200m 2004년 아테네 메들리 200m 2004년 아테네 메들리 400m 2004년 아테네 자유형 4×200m 2004년 아테네 메들리 4×100m 2008년 베이징 자유형 200m 2008년 베이징 나비 100m 2008년 베이징 나비 200m 2008년 베이징 메들리 200m 2008년 베이징 메들리 400m 2008년 베이징 100m 자유형 4×100m 2008년 베이징 자유형 4×200m 2008년 베이징 메들리 4×100m 2012년 런던 나비 100m 2012년 런던 메들리 200m 2012년 런던 자유형 4×200m 2012년 런던 메들리 4×100m 2016년 리우데자네이루 나비 200m 2016년 리우데자네이루 메들리 200m 2016년 리우데자네이루 100m 자유형 4×100m 2016년 리우데자네이루 자유형 4×200m 2016년 리우데자네이루 메들리 4×100m 2012년 런던 나비 200m 2012년 런던 100m 자유형 4×100m 2016년 리우데자네이루 나비 100m 2004년 아테네 자유형 200m 2004년 아테네 100m 자유형 4×100m 세계 선수권 대회(LC) 2001년 후쿠오카 나비 200m 2003년 바르셀로나 나비 200m 2003년 바르셀로나 메들리 200m 2003년 바르셀로나 메들리 400m 2003년 바르셀로나 메들리 4×100m 2005년 몬트리올 자유형 200m 2005년 몬트리올 메들리 200m 2005년 몬트리올 100m 자유형 4×100m 2005년 몬트리올 자유형 4×200m 2005년 몬트리올 메들리 4×100m 2007년 멜버른 자유형 200m 2007년 멜버른 나비 100m 2007년 멜버른 나비 200m 2007년 멜버른 메들리 200m 2007년 멜버른 메들리 400m 2007년 멜버른 100m 자유형 4×100m 2007년 멜버른 자유형 4×200m 2009년 로마 나비 100m 2009년 로마 나비 200m 2009년 로마 100m 자유형 4×100m 2009년 로마 자유형 4×200m 2009년 로마 메들리 4×100m 2011년 상하이 나비 100m 2011년 상하이 나비 200m 2011년 상하이 자유형 4×200m 2011년 상하이 메들리 4×100m 2003년 바르셀로나 나비 100m 2003년 바르셀로나 자유형 4×200m 2005년 몬트리올 나비 100m 2009년 로마 자유형 200m 2011년 상하이 자유형 200m 2011년 상하이 메들리 200m 2011년 상하이 100m 자유형 4×100m 세계 선수권 대회(SC) 2004년 인디애나폴리스 자유형 200m 범태평양 선수권 대회 2002년 요코하마 메들리 200m 2002년 요코하마 메들리 400m 2002년 요코하마 메들리 4×100m 2006년 빅토리아 나비 200m 2006년 빅토리아 메들리 200m 2006년 빅토리아 메들리 400m 2006년 빅토리아 100m 자유형 4×100m 2006년 빅토리아 자유형 4×200m 2010년 어바인 나비 100m 2010년 어바인 나비 200m 2010년 어바인 100m 자유형 4×100m 2010년 어바인 자유형 4×200m 2010년 어바인 메들리 4×100m 2014년 골드코스트 나비 100m 2014년 골드코스트 자유형 4×200m 2014년 골드코스트 메들리 4×100m 2002년 요코하마 나비 200m 2002년 요코하마 자유형 4×200m 2006년 빅토리아 배영 200m 2014년 골드코스트 메들리 200m 2014년 골드코스트 100m 자유형 4×100m

마이클 프레드 펠프스 2세^[5](Michael Fred Phelps II, 1985년 6월 30일 출생)^[6]는 미국의 전 경쟁력 있는 수영선수다.총 28개의 메달로 역대 올림픽 사상 가장^[7] 성공적이고 가장 훈장을 받은 올림픽 선수다.^[8]펠프스는 올림픽 금메달(23개),^[9] 개인 종목 올림픽 금메달(13개), 개인 종목 올림픽 메달(16개) 등 역대 최다 기록도 보유하고 있다.^[10]펠프스는 2008년 베이징 올림픽에서 8개의 금메달을 땄을 때, 동료 미국인 수영선수 마크 스피츠의 1972년 올림픽 단일 경기에서 7개의 1위 기록을 깼다.펠프스는 2004년 아테네 하계 올림픽에서 이미 한 경기에서 금메달 6개, 동메달 2개를 따내며 어떤 색깔의 메달 8개를 동률로 묶었다.펠프스는 2012년 런던 하계 올림픽에서 금메달 4개, 은메달 2개를 획득했고 2016년 리우데자네이루 올림픽에서는 금메달 5개, 은메달 1개를 획득했다.이로써 그는 4회 연속 올림픽의 가장 성공적인 선수가 되었다.^[11][12]

펠프스는 남자 400m 개인혼영에서 롱코스 세계기록 보유자일 뿐 아니라 자유형 200m, 나비 100m, 나비 200m, 개인혼영 200m에서 전 롱코스 세계기록 보유자다.그는 주요 국제 장거리 코스 대회에서 82개의 메달을 따냈고, 이 중 올림픽, 세계선수권, 범태평양선수권 등을 통틀어 65개의 금메달, 14개의 은메달, 3개의 동메달을 땄다.펠프스의 국제 타이틀과 기록적인 성적은 2012년과 2016년 FINA 올해의 수영선수상은 물론 올해의 세계 수영선수상 8번, 올해의 미국 수영선수상을 11번 받았다.펠프스는 2008년 올림픽에서 전례 없는 성공을 거둔 덕분에 스포츠 일러스트레이티드 잡지의 올해의 스포츠맨 상을 받았다.

펠프스는 2008년 하계 올림픽 이후 마이클 펠프스 재단을 설립했는데, 이 재단은 수영의 스포츠를 키우고 더 건강한 생활방식을 증진하는 데 초점을 맞추고 있다.펠프스는 2012년 올림픽에 이어 은퇴했지만 2014년 4월 재기했다.^[13]다섯 번째 올림픽인 ^[14]2016년 리우데자네이루 하계 올림픽에서는 소속팀으로부터 2016년 하계 올림픽 국제 퍼레이드에서 미국의 국기수여자로 선정됐다.2016년 8월 12일 161개국보다 많은 메달을 따내며 ^[15]두 번째 은퇴를 선언했다.그는 모든 시대를 통틀어 가장 위대한 수영 선수로 널리 여겨지고 있으며, 종종 모든 시대를 통틀어 가장 위대한 선수 중 한 명으로 여겨진다.^[16][17]

초년기

펠프스는 메릴랜드 주 볼티모어에서 태어났으며,^[6] 인근 토우슨 지역의 로저스 포제르에서 자랐다.^[18] Forge) 지역에서 자랐다.그는 로저스 포저 초등학교, 덤마튼 중학교, 토우슨 고등학교를 다녔다.^[19]펠프스는 세 아이 중 막내다.그의 어머니 데보라 수 "데비" 펠프스(네 다비슨)는 중학교 교장이다.^[20]그의 아버지 마이클 프레드 펠프스는 은퇴한 메릴랜드 주립대학원으로 고등학교와 대학교에서 축구를 했고 1970년대에 현재 워싱턴 지휘관으로 알려진 팀을 위해 노력했다.^[20][21]펠프스는 영어, 독일어, 아일랜드어, 스코틀랜드어, 웨일스어 혈통이다.^[22]그의 부모는 그가 9살이었던 1994년 이혼했고, 아버지는 2000년 재혼했다.^[21]펠프스는 이후 이혼이 자신과 형제들에게 심각한 악영향을 미쳤으며, 이혼 후 몇 년 동안 아버지와의 관계가 소원했다고 밝혔다.^[23]그는 2003년에 토우슨 고등학교를 졸업했다.^[24]

펠프스는 일곱 살 때 수영을 시작했는데, 그 이유는 부분적으로 그의 자매들의 영향 때문이기도 하고, 부분적으로 그에게 그의 에너지의 배출구를 제공하기 위해서이기도 하다.^[25]2016년 은퇴 후 그는 "물속에 들어간 유일한 이유는 엄마가 수영하는 법을 배우길 원했기 때문"이라고 말했다.언니들과 나는 그 스포츠에 푹 빠졌고, 우리는 수영을 하기로 결정했어."^[26]펠프스는 6학년 때 주의력결핍과잉행동장애(ADHD) 진단을 받았다.^[27][28]10세까지 연령대(나비 100m)^[29]의 국가신기록을 보유하고 밥 보우먼 감독 휘하의 노스볼티모어 아쿠아틱 클럽에서 훈련을 시작했다.더 많은 연령대 기록이 뒤따랐고 2018년 8월 21일 현재 펠프스는 여전히 11명의 연령대 기록, 긴 코스 8개, ^[30]짧은 코스 3개를 보유하고 있다.^[31]

수영 경력

트레이닝

펠프스는 11살 때부터 밥 보우먼 밑에서 훈련해왔다.^[32]보우먼은 1983년부터 1985년까지 플로리다 주립대학에서 수영을 했다.^[33]펠프스는 보우먼이 훈련과 연대의 방식 때문에 훈련 하사관을 떠올리게 했다고 말했다.^[34]하지만 펠프스는 "밥과 함께 훈련하는 것이 내가 한 일 중 가장 현명한 일"이라고 말했다.다른 사람을 위해 수영하지 않을 거야."^[35]2004년 하계 올림픽 이후, 보우만은 존 어반체크가 은퇴한 후 미시간 대학교의 수석 코치로 영입되었다.펠프스는 미시건 주 보우먼에 합류해 4년 동안 훈련을 받고 수업에 참여했지만 학위를 따지 않았다.^[36][37]펠프스는 미시건에서 자원봉사 보조 코치로 일했다.^[38]2008년 하계 올림픽 이후, 보우만은 북 볼티모어 아쿠아틱 클럽의 CEO로 볼티모어로 돌아왔다.펠프스도 보우만과 함께 볼티모어로 돌아왔다.^[39]펠프스는 2015년 보우먼이 애리조나 주립대 남녀 수영 코치로 영입되자 애리조나로 건너가 보우먼 밑에서 훈련을 이어갔다.^[40]펠프스는 매일 1만2000칼로리를 먹었다는 통속적인 신화가 있지만 펠프스는 그것이 과장됐고 성장기에도 그렇게 많이 먹지 않았다고 진술했다.^[41][42]

2000년 하계 올림픽

펠프스의 급속한 발전은 그가 68년 만에 미국 올림픽 수영팀을 만든 최연소 남자(1932년 랄프 플래너건 이후)가 되면서 15세의 나이로 2000년 하계 올림픽에 출전 자격을 얻으면서 절정에 달했다.^[43]그는 메달을 따지 못했지만 결승에 진출해 200m 접영에서 5위를 차지했다.^[44]

2001년 세계 선수권 대회

2001년 세계 선수권 대회
	나비 200m	1:54.58(WR)

3월 30일 2001 세계수영선수권대회 세계선수권대회에서 펠프스는 200m 접영에서 세계기록을 경신해 15년 9개월 만에 수영 세계 최연소 남자 기록을 세웠다.이전에 최연소 남성은 이안 소프였는데, 그는 자유형 400미터 세계 기록을 16년 10개월 만에 달성했다.^[45]일본 후쿠오카에서 열린 세계선수권대회에서 펠프스는 세계선수권대회 사상 처음으로 우승에 도전하는 도중 200m 접영에서 자신의 세계기록을 갈아치웠다.^[46]

2002년 범태평양 선수권 대회

2002년 범태평양 선수권 대회
	메들리 200m	1:59.70
	메들리 400m	4:12.48
	메들리 4×100m	3:33.48(WR)
	나비 200m	1.55.41
	자유형 4×200m	7:11.81

2002년 범태평양수영선수권대회 선발전에서 플로리다 포트 로더데일에서 열린 펠프스는 200m 개인혼영에서 미국 신기록을 세웠고 200m 접영에서 세계신기록을 바로 벗어났다.^[47]개인혼영 400m에서도 펠프스는 톰 돌란이 보유한 세계기록을 4분11초09로 베팅해 4분11초27로 2위를 한 에릭 벤트를 앞섰다.자유형 200m에서는 펠프스가 크렛 켈러에게 간신히 얻어맞았고, 접영 100m에서는 펠프스가 이안 크로커를 꺾었다.^[48]

펠프스는 일본 요코하마에서 열린 2002 범태평양수영선수권대회에서 금메달 3개와 은메달 2개를 획득했다.첫 대회인 400m 개인혼영에서 펠프스는 4분12초48로 에릭 벤트를 앞서 금메달을 목에 걸었다.200m 접영에서 펠프스는 톰 말초에게 패해 1분55.41 대 1분55.21로 뒤를 이었다.펠프스는 세계 기록을 깬 뒤 나비 훈련을 진지하게 받아들이지 않아 졌다고 말했다.개인혼영 200m에서는 펠프스가 1분59초70으로 우승했다.자유형 4×200m 계주에서 펠프스는 네이트 듀싱, 크렛 켈러, 채드 카빈과 함께 7분11초81로 호주를 제치고 은메달을 목에 걸었다.미국의 4×100m 메들리 릴레이 팀은 애런 페이솔, 브렌단 핸슨, 펠프스, 이언 크로커로 구성되었다.메들리 릴레이 결승에서 펠프스는 51.1 스플릿을 수영했는데, 그 당시 역사상 가장 빠른 스플릿이었다.3분 33초 48의 마지막 시간은 세계 기록이었다.^[49]

2003년 세계 선수권 대회

2003년 세계 선수권 대회
	나비 200m	1:54.35
	메들리 200m	1:56.04(WR)
	메들리 400m	4:09.09 (WR)
	메들리 4×100m	3:31.54 (WR)(펠프스는 히트로만 헤엄쳤다)
	나비 100m	51.10
	자유형 4×200m	7:10.26

전국대회에서 펠프스는 자유형 200m, 배영 200m, 접영 100m에서 우승했다.^[50]그는 미국 수영선수 중 처음으로 세 번의 다른 경기에서 세 번의 다른 경기에서 우승한 선수가 되었다.^[50]펠프스는 호주와 미국의 수영 스타들을 상대로 열린 2003년 듀엣 인 더 풀에서 400m 개인혼영에서 4분10초73으로 세계기록을 갈아치웠고 100m 접영에서도 0.03초 차이로 세계기록을 거의 경신했다.^[51]펠프스는 이날 캘리포니아 주 산타클라라 카운티에서 열린 대회에서 200m 개인혼영에서 1분57초94로 세계기록을 갈아치웠다.^[52]펠프스는 돈 탤벗이 펠프스의 말을 동기부여로 삼아 증명되지 않았다고 말한 뒤 200m 개인 메들리 세계기록을 깼다고 말했다.^[53]

펠프스는 2003년 세계수영선수권대회에서 금메달 4개, 은메달 2개, 세계기록 5개를 갈아치웠다.^[54]펠프스는 7월 22일 나비 200m 준결승에서 자신의 첫 세계 기록을 깼다.펠프스는 1분53초93으로 2001년에 세운 자신의 세계기록인 1분54초58을 깨며 1분54초00 이하로 수영한 최초의 선수가 되었다.^[55]펠프스는 23일 나비 200m 결승에서 손쉽게 금메달을 따냈지만 1분54초35로 세계기록에 근접하지 못했다.^[56]1시간도 채 지나지 않아 펠프스는 자유형 계주 4×200m를 위해 선두 다리를 수영했다.펠프스는 1분46초60(미국 기록)이라는 탄탄한 시간을 내세웠지만 미국인들은 호주인들의 깊이를 따라가지 못해 결국 7분10초26에서 7분08초58로 2위를 차지했다.^[57]200m 개인혼영에서는 펠프스가 우세했다.7월 24일, 200미터 개인혼영 준결승에서, 그는 1분 57초 52의 기록으로 자신의 세계 기록을 깼다.^[58]펠프스는 25일 개인혼영 200m 결승에서 1분56.04초로 자신의 기록을 깨고 이언 소프에게 3초 가까이 앞서며 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[59]펠프스는 200m 개인혼영 결승전을 1시간여 앞두고 접영 100m 4강에서 수영을 했다.펠프스는 또 다시 세계 기록 51.47로 시드권 1위를 차지했다.^[60]하지만 7월 26일, 이안 크로커는 100미터 접영 결승에서 펠프스의 세계 기록을 50.98점으로 지우고 51초 미만의 최초의 남자가 되었다.펠프스는 51.10(전 세계 기록에서도 마찬가지)을 수영했지만 은메달에 만족해야 했다.^[61]펠프스는 27일 열린 개인혼영 400m 결승에서 4분09초09로 자신의 세계기록을 경신하며 손쉽게 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[62]약 30분 후에 펠프스는 미국 팀이 4×100미터 메들리 계주에서 우승했을 때 마지막 금메달을 땄다.^[63]펠프스는 결승전에서 수영하지 않았지만, 히트를 쳤기 때문에 여전히 메달을 땄다.^[64]

2004년 하계 올림픽

시련

펠프스는 2004년 미국 올림픽 단체전에서 개인혼영 200m와 400m, 나비 100m와 200m, 자유형 200m, 배영 200m 등 6개 종목에 출전했다.^[65]그의 첫 경기인 400미터 개인 메들리 경기에서 펠프스는 4분 8초 41의 세계 기록으로 쉽게 우승했다.^[66]이틀 뒤 자유형 200m에서 펠프스는 1분46.27초로 우승해 켈러에게 10분의6초 앞서 결승선을 통과했다.^[67]그러나 펠프스는 결과에 만족하지 못하고 1시 45분대가 되기를 원했고 아테네에서 이 대회를 수영할지는 불확실했다.^[68]다음 날 펠프스는 200m 접영에서 2위 톰 말초보다 3초 앞선 1분54초31의 기록으로 우승했다.^[69]이틀간의 휴식 후 펠프스는 다시 수영장으로 돌아와 200m 배영에서 아론 페이르솔(세계 기록을 깬)에게 2위를 했다.^[70]30분도 안 돼 펠프스는 개인혼영 200m에서 라이언 록테를 2.70초 차로 따돌리고 우승했다.^[71][72]다음날 펠프스는 100미터 접영에서 이안 크로커에게 2위를 했다.크로커는 50.76으로 세계기록이자 펠프스보다 0.39초 앞서 우승했다.^[73]시련이 끝났을 때 펠프스는 미국 올림픽 팀에서 6개의 개인 종목에서 예선전을 치른 첫 번째 사람이 되었다.^[74]하지만 펠프스는 이언 소프와의 경기를 원했기 때문에 200m 배영을 떨어뜨려 자유형 200m에 집중했다.^[74]펠프스는 이번 대회에서 자유형 100m에 출전하지 않았음에도 불구하고 여전히 자유형 400m 계주에 선발됐다.게리 홀 주니어는 이것이 불공평하다고 생각했고 펠프스는 릴레이에서 자리를 차지할 자격이 없다고 말했다.펠프스는 자신의 프로그램이 100미터 자유형에서 경쟁하기에는 너무 붐비고 적어도 4명의 수영선수 중 상위 시드의 제이슨 레작에게 마지막 스윔블던을 이겼기 때문이라고 주장했다.^[75]

2004년 하계 올림픽
	나비 100m	51.25 (OR)
	나비 200m	1:54.04(OR)
	메들리 200m	1:57.14 (OR)
	메들리 400m	4:08.26 (WR)
	4×200m	7:07.33 (NR)
	메들리 4×100m	3:30.68 (WR)(펠프스는 온도로만 헤엄쳤다)
	200m	1:45.32 (NR)
	쟈유형 4×100m	3:14.62

아테네

그의 첫 번째 종목인 400미터 개인혼영에서 펠프스는 4분 8초 26의 세계 기록에서 첫 올림픽 금메달을 땄다.^[76][77]다음 날 펠프스는 이안 크로커, 닐 워커, 제이슨 레작과 함께 자유형 계주 4×100m에서 3분14초62로 3위에 그쳤다.^[78][79]크로커의 리드오프 시간인 50.05는 필드 중 최악이었고 질병의 원인으로 지목됐다.^[80][81]많은 사람들이 다음 날 열린 200미터 자유형인 세기의 경주라고 부르는 이 행사에서 펠프스는 이언 소프, 피터 판 덴 후겐밴드 다음으로 3위를 차지했다.^[82][83]이번 레이스로 스피츠의 기록과 맞설 기회가 끝났지만 펠프스는 최강의 종목이 아니면서도 "어떻게 실망할 수 있겠느냐"라며 도전을 음미했다.나는 역사상 가장 빠른 두 명의 프리스타일러가 있는 들판에서 수영을 했다."^[84]펠프스는 다음 날 열린 네 번째 대회인 나비 200m에서 1분54초04로 톰 말초우의 올림픽 기록을 갈아치우며 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[85][86]약 1시간 뒤 자유형 400m 계주에서 펠프스는 라이언 로치, 피터 밴더카이, 크렛 켈러와 함께 7시간 7분 7초 33으로 1위를 차지했다.^[87]이틀 뒤 펠프스는 개인혼영 200m에서 올림픽 기록인 1분57.14초로 1위를 차지했다.^[88]펠프스는 다음 날 열린 접영 100m 결승에서 51.25로 미국 팀 동료 이언 크로커(당시 대회 세계기록 보유자)를 0.04초 차로 꺾었다.^[89][90]전통적으로, 개인 종목에서 가장 높은 순위를 차지한 미국인은 4×100미터 메들리 계주 결승에서 자동으로 해당 다리를 받게 된다.이로 인해 펠프스는 메들리 릴레이에 자동 진입하게 되었지만, 그는 연기했고 크로커는 대신 수영을 했다.^[90][91]펠프스의 몸짓은 크로커에게 (이전 경기 시작에서의 실수에 대한) 보상도 할 수 있는 기회를 주었고, 마지막 금메달 획득도 했다.^[91]미국 메들리 팀은 계속해서 세계 기록으로 이 대회를 우승했고, 펠프스는 메들리 릴레이의 예선전에서 레이스를 했기 때문에 결승전에 출전한 팀원들과 함께 금메달을 수여 받았다.^[92][93]금메달 6개, 동메달 2개를 따내며 여전히 10대인 펠프스는 1972년 하계 올림픽에서 마크 스피츠가 7관왕을 차지한 데 이어 단일 올림픽에서 역대 두 번째로 좋은 성적을 거뒀다.또한, 그는 1972년부터 스피츠의 4개 대회와 동률로 단일 대회에서 2개 이상의 개인 타이틀을 획득한 두 번째 남자 수영 선수가 되었다.

2005년 세계 선수권 대회

2005년 세계 수영 선수권 대회
	200m	1:45.20 (NR)
	메들리 200m	1:56.68
	쟈유형 4×100m	3:13.77 (CR)
	4×200m	7:06.58
	메들리 4×100m	3:31.85 (펠프스는 온도로만 헤엄쳤다)
	100m	51.65

펠프스는 2005년 세계선수권대회에서 개인혼영 400m와 접영 200m를 버리고 자유형 400m와 자유형 100m를 실험하기로 했다.^[94]펠프스는 계속해서 400미터 자유형, 200미터 자유형, 100미터 접영, 100미터 자유형, 200미터 개인 메들리에서 우승했다.^{[95][96][97][98][99]}

2005년 세계수영선수권대회에서 펠프스는 총 6개의 메달, 5개의 금메달, 1개의 은메달을 땄다.^[100]자유형 400m에서 펠프스는 예선 히트를 통과하지 못하고 3분50초53으로 종합 18위에 그쳤다.^[101]이날 오후 자유형 400m 계주에서 펠프스는 대회 첫 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[102]이틀 뒤인 7월 26일 펠프스는 자유형 200m에서 미국 신기록(NR) 1분45초20으로 그랜트 해켓에 앞서 두 번째 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[103]이틀 뒤인 7월 28일 펠프스는 자유형 100m 결승에서 7위를 차지했다.^[104]펠프스는 이날 오후 개인혼영 200m에서 세 번째 금메달을 목에 걸었다.^[105]7월 29일 펠프스는 라이언 로치, 피터 밴더카이, 크렛 켈러와 함께 4×200미터 자유형 계주에서 7시간 6분 58초로 금메달을 땄다.이것은 펠프스의 네 번째 금메달이었다.^[106]7월 30일 펠프스는 자신의 마지막 개인전인 100미터 접영에서 수영을 했다.결승에서 펠프스는 이안 크로커의 스피드를 따라가지 못하고 은메달에 만족해야 하며 크로커의 세계 신기록인 51.65대 50.40으로 마감했다.^[107]7월 31일, 펠프스는 미국 팀이 4×100미터 메들리 계주에서 우승했을 때 마지막 금메달을 땄다.^[108]펠프스는 결승전에서 수영하지 않았지만, 그가 히트를 쳤기 때문에 여전히 메달을 땄다.^[109]

2006년 범태평양 선수권 대회

2006년 범태평양 선수권 대회
	나비 200m	1:53.80(WR)
	메들리 200m	1:55.84(WR)
	메들리 400m	4:10.47 (CR)
	100m 자유형 4×100m	3:12.46(WR)
	자유형 4×200m	7:05.28 (CR)
	200 m backstroke	1:56.81

At the 2006 National Championships, Phelps won three events.^[110] In his first event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps won with a championship record of 1:54.32.^[111] In his second event, the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps just edged out Ian Crocker 51.51 (another championship record) to 51.73.^[112] In his third event, the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps won with a time of 1:56.50, just ahead of Ryan Lochte's time of 1:56.78.^[113]

At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, Phelps won five gold medals and one silver.^[114] In his first event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps won in a world record time of 1:53.80, his first world record in two years.^[115] In his second event, the 400-meter individual medley, Phelps easily won with a time of 4:10.47, 3.38 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Robert Margalis.^[116] In his third event, the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, and Klete Keller, won the gold medal with a time of 7:05.28.^[117] In his fourth event, the 200-meter backstroke, Phelps won the silver medal, finishing behind Aaron Peirsol 1:56.81 to 1:54.44 (a new world record).^[118] In his fifth event, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps, along with Neil Walker, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak, won the gold medal with a world-record time 3:12.46.^[119] In his sixth event, the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps won with a world record time of 1:55.84, breaking his record of 1:55.94 set in 2003.^[120]

2007 World championships

2007 World Championships
	200 m freestyle	1:43.86 (WR)
	100 m butterfly	50.77
	200 m butterfly	1:52.09 (WR)
	200 m medley	1:54.98 (WR)
	400 m medley	4:06.22 (WR)
	4×100 m freestyle	3:12.72 (CR)
	4×200 m freestyle	7:03.24 (WR)

At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, Phelps won seven gold medals, tying the record for a global long-course championship held by Mark Spitz since the 1972 Summer Olympics, and broke five world records.^[121] Phelps first gold medal came in the 4×100-meter freestyle. Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 48.42 seconds and Neil Walker, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak each expanded the lead to win in a Championship record of 3:12.72, just missing the world record of 3:12.46 set the previous year.^[122] His lead-off time was faster than the winning time in the individual 100-meter freestyle final later in the meet. Phelps set his first world record in the Championships in the 200-meter freestyle, his second race. Phelps won the gold ahead of Pieter van den Hoogenband and broke Ian Thorpe's six-year-old world record with a time of 1:43.86.^[123] For his third race, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps won the gold and bettered his own world record of 1:53.71 with a time of 1:52.09.^[124] For his fourth race, the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps set his third world record with a time of 1:54.98, bettering his own world-record time of 1:55.84^[125] For his fifth race, the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 1:45.36 as the American team of Ryan Lochte, Klete Keller, and Peter Vanderkaay went on to win the gold medal and beat the previous world record set by Australia in 2001 with a time 7:03.24.^[126] For his sixth race, the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps edged out Ian Crocker 50.77 to 50.82 to win his sixth gold medal.^[127] For his seventh event, the 400-meter individual medley, Phelps won the gold medal in a world-record time of 4:06.22, more than 3.5 seconds ahead of Ryan Lochte.^[128] By winning seven gold medals, Phelps broke the record of six set by Ian Thorpe at the 2001 World Championships. The 4×100-meter medley relay team received a disqualification for a false start during a changeover in the heats, ending Phelps's chance of eight gold medals.^[129]

Even though Phelps competed in the backstroke in international competition only once (at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships), he was among the best backstroke swimmers in the world. This is illustrated by his personal best times set in 2007, four months after the World Championships. At the US Nationals in Indianapolis on August 1, 2007, Phelps swam a 1:54.65 in the 200-meter backstroke, which was the third fastest of all time in the event, 0.33 of a second off the world record of 1:54.32 held by Ryan Lochte.^[130] Two days later Phelps swam a time of 53.01 sec in the 100-meter backstroke, 0.03 of a second short of the world record of 52.98 held by Aaron Peirsol and the second-fastest performance of all time.^[131] In 2007 Phelps swam into the all-time top three performances in seven individual events, four of these being world records.

2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics
	200 m freestyle	1:42.96 (WR)
	100 m butterfly	50.58 (OR)
	200 m butterfly	1:52.03 (WR)
	200 m medley	1:54.23 (WR)
	400 m medley	4:03.84 (WR)
	4×100 m freestyle	3:08.24 (WR)
	4×200 m freestyle	6:58.56 (WR)
	4×100 m medley	3:29.34 (WR)

Trials

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Phelps competed in six individual events. In his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, Phelps broke his own world record of 4:06.22 with a time of 4:05.25.^[132] In his second event, the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps won with a time of 1:44.10, ahead of Peter Vanderkaay's time 1:45.85.^[133] In his third event, the 100-meter freestyle, Phelps placed second in his heat with a time of 47.92, ensuring him a spot on the relay.^[134] In his fourth event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps won with a time of 1:52.20.^[135] In his fifth event, the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps broke his own world record of 1:54.98 with a time of 1:54.80.^[136] In his sixth and final event, the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps won with a time of 50.89.^[137] When asked about his chances of winning eight gold medals in Beijing, Phelps said, "I am going to prepare for that meet just like I do every other meet ... There is only so much I can do in a month and then I am going to prepare myself the best that I can."^[138]

Beijing

Phelps set an Olympic record in the preliminary heats of the 400-meter individual medley.^[139][140] He followed that up in the final by winning the gold medal, as well as breaking his previous world record by nearly two seconds.^[141][142] This swim went on to become the longest men's world record to stand in long course meters, beating Germany's Otto Farr who held the 100 backstroke world record from 1912 until 1926.^[143]

Phelps swam the first leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in a time of 47.51 seconds (an American record for the 100-meter freestyle), and won his second gold medal of the 2008 Olympics, as well as setting his second world record of the Olympics (3:08.24).^[144] Teammate Jason Lezak, after beginning the anchor leg more than half a body length behind Alain Bernard, managed to finish ahead of the favored French swimmer by eight hundredths of a second. The top five teams in the final finished ahead of the world record of 3:12.23 set the previous day by the American B team in a preliminary heat.^[145] Phelps remarked that Bernard's pre-race comments of "smashing the Americans" had "fired me up more than anything else". Le Nouvel Observateur noted "Phelps taking the time to applaud and console Bernard" and wrote that this sportsmanship was "proof that the person who swims in the wake of Mark Spitz is also a great gentleman."^[146]

For his third race, Phelps broke his previous world record in the 200-meter freestyle by nearly a second and won his third gold medal. He also set his third world record at the Olympics, 1:42.96, winning by nearly two seconds over silver medalist Park Tae-hwan.^[147] In this race, Phelps became the fifth Olympic athlete in modern history to win nine gold medals, joining Mark Spitz, Larisa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, and Carl Lewis.^[148]

The next day, Phelps participated in two finals. In his first event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps made it four gold medals and world records in four events by swimming the final in 1:52.03, defeating silver medalist László Cseh by almost seven-tenths of a second despite his goggles' having filled up with water and being unable to "see anything for the last 100 meters.^[149] This fourth gold medal was his tenth, and made him the all-time leader for most Olympic gold medals won by an individual in the modern Olympic era.^[150] Moreover, Phelps became the first swimmer, male or female, to win three Olympic butterfly titles, after his two titles in the Athens 2004 Olympics. He also became the first swimmer to successfully defend an Olympic butterfly title.

Less than one hour after his gold medal victory in the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps swam the lead-off leg of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. With Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Peter Vanderkaay, he won his fifth gold and set his fifth world record as the American team finished first with a time of 6:58.56. The Americans were the first team to break the seven-minute mark in the relay, and broke the previous record, set in Melbourne, Australia, by more than four and a half seconds.^[151]

After taking a day off from finals (Phelps did swim in qualifying heats), Phelps won his sixth gold of the Beijing Games on August 15 by winning the 200-meter individual medley with a world record time of 1:54.23, finishing ahead of Cseh by over two seconds.^[152]

Seventh gold medal

Before the final of the 100-meter butterfly, US born Serbian swimmer Milorad Čavić caused a minor stir when he said it would be "good" if Phelps lost. "It'd be good for him if he loses. It would be nice if historians talk about Michael Phelps winning seven gold medals and losing the eighth to 'some guy.' I'd like to be that guy", Čavić said.^[153] Phelps responded, "When people say things like that, it fires me up more than anything."^[154] On August 16, Phelps won his seventh gold medal of the Games in the men's 100-meter butterfly, setting an Olympic record for the event with a time of 50.58 seconds and edging out his nearest competitor Čavić, by one hundredth (0.01) of a second.^[155]

Unlike all six of his previous events in the 2008 Games, Phelps did not set a new world record, leaving intact Ian Crocker's world-record time of 50.40 seconds, set in 2005.

Phelps's finish 0.01 seconds ahead of Čavić prompted the Serbian delegation to file a protest. Subsequent analysis of the video by the FINA panel, which required analyzing frames shot 1/10,000th of a second apart, was used to officially confirm Phelps's victory,^[156] but the images were not immediately released to the press. The initial refusal by official timekeeper Omega to release underwater photos of the finish also raised questions due to Phelps's sponsorship relationship with Omega.^[157] Čavić later wrote in his blog, "People, this is the greatest moment of my life. If you ask me, it should be accepted and we should move on. I've accepted defeat, and there's nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer there has ever been."^[158]

Epic. It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time. He's the greatest racer who ever walked the planet. (2008)

—Mark Spitz (on Phelps winning his 7th gold medal)[159]

Phelps's seventh gold medal of the Games tied Mark Spitz's record for gold medals won in a single Olympic Games, set in the 1972 Olympics. It was also his fifth individual gold medal in Beijing, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Said Phelps upon setting his seventh-straight Olympic record of the Games in as many events, "Dream as big as you can dream, and anything is possible ... I am sort of in a dream world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it is real."^[160]

All-time record

On August 17, Phelps won his eighth gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won in a single Olympic Games, which had stood since 1972.^[161] Phelps, along with teammates Brendan Hansen, Aaron Peirsol, and Jason Lezak, set a new world record in the event with a time of 3 minutes and 29.34 seconds, 0.7 seconds ahead of second-place Australia and 1.34 seconds faster than the previous record set by the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. When Phelps dived in to swim the 100-meter butterfly leg, the third leg of the 400-meter medley, the United States had been trailing Australia and Japan. Phelps completed his split in 50.1 seconds, the fastest butterfly split ever for the event, giving teammate Jason Lezak a more than half-second lead for the final leg, which he held onto to clinch the event in world record time.^[162] Said Phelps, upon completing the event that awarded him his eighth gold medal and eighth Olympic record in as many events, "Records are always made to be broken no matter what they are ... Anybody can do anything that they set their mind to."^[163]

Performance-enhancing drugs testing

During the 2008 Olympics, Phelps was questioned by the press as to whether perhaps his feats were "too good to be true", a reference to unsupported rumors that Phelps might be taking performance-enhancing substances.^[164][165] In response, Phelps noted that he had signed up for Project Believe, a project by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in which U.S. Olympians can volunteer to be tested in excess of the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines.^[166] During the Games, Phelps passed all nine tests that were administered to him.^[167][168]

2009 World championships

2009 World Championships
	100 m butterfly	49.82 (WR)
	200 m butterfly	1:51.51 (WR)
	4×100 m freestyle	3:09.21 (CR)
	4×200 m freestyle	6:58.55 (WR)
	4×100 m medley	3:27.28 (WR)
	200 m freestyle	1:43.22

At the 2009 National Championships, Phelps drastically shortened his program, swimming in only three individual events. In his first event, the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps won with a time of 1:44.23.^[169] In his second event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps easily won with a time of 1:52.76, 0.88 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.^[170] In his third event, the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps won with a world-record time of 50.22.^[171]

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, Phelps won a total of 6 medals, 5 golds and 1 silver. In his first event, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 47.78, well off his 47.51 performance in Beijing, but the American team was able to edge out Russia and France for the gold.^[172] For his second race, the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps lost his first race in four years to Germany's Paul Biedermann. Phelps touched second in 1:43.22, but Biedermann smashed Phelps's record of 1:42.96 set in Beijing a year ago with a time of 1:42.00.^[173] Phelps took the silver graciously, but coach Bob Bowman threatened to withdraw Phelps from international competition because Bowman claimed Biedermann had an unfair advantage because he was wearing a full polyurethane swimsuit, specifically an Arena X-Glide.^[174] Bowman said, "It took me five years to get Michael from 1:46 to 1:42 and this guy has done it in 11 months. That's an amazing training performance. I'd like to know how to do that."^[175] Phelps rebounded from this loss and for his third race, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps won the gold and broke his own world record of 1:52.03 with a time of 1:51.51.^[176] For his fourth race, the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 1:44.49 as the team went on to win the gold medal and break the world record set the previous year.^[177] After his loss in the 200-meter freestyle, many thought Phelps was vulnerable coming into the final for the 100-meter butterfly.^[178] His closest competitor, Milorad Čavić, who wore an Arena X-Glide (the same suit Biedermann beat Phelps with), thought people were making excuses for Phelps because he was wearing an LZR Racer. Čavić even offered to buy Phelps a new suit.^[179] For his fifth race, the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps won the gold and became the first man to complete it in under 50 seconds, beating Čavić 49.82 to 49.95.^[180] The victory prompted a fierce celebration from Phelps.^[181] For his final event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Phelps won his fifth gold medal. Phelps, along with teammates Aaron Peirsol, Eric Shanteau, and David Walters, set a new world record in the event with a time of 3 minutes, 27.28 seconds.^[182]

2010 Pan Pacific championships

2010 Pan Pacific Championships
	100 m butterfly	50.86
	200 m butterfly	1:54.11
	4×100 m freestyle	3:11.74
	4×200 m freestyle	7:03.84
	4×100 m medley	3:32.48

At the 2010 National Championships, Phelps competed in five individual events. In the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps won ahead of Ryan Lochte in a time of 1:45.61.^[183] About an hour later, Phelps returned to the pool to win the 200-meter butterfly.^[184] But Phelps was not happy with his performance and called it the "worst" 200-meter butterfly of his life. In the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps won his 50th national title in 50.65.^[185] After the race, Phelps said he was "fairly pleased" with the result.^[186][187] In the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps finished second to Lochte 1:55.94 to 1:54.84.^[188] It was the first time Lochte had beat Phelps in a major national meet.^[189] In the 200-meter backstroke, Phelps finished in 4th place in 1:56.98.^[190]

On the first day of competition at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Phelps opted out swimming in the final of the 200-meter freestyle to focus on the 200-meter butterfly. In the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps led from start to finish, coming in first with a time of 1:54.11. Although it was much slower than his 1:51.51 time from the previous year, Phelps had not lost a 200-meter butterfly final since 2002.^[191][192] On day two of the competition, Phelps swam in the heats of the 400-meter individual medley and contributed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In the heats of the 400-meter individual medley, Phelps failed to make the A final, with Lochte and Tyler Clary taking the top two American positions.^[193] Phelps did not swim in the B final of the 400-meter individual medley. In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Phelps, with Peter Vanderkaay, Ricky Berens, and Lochte, finished first ahead of Japan and Australia.^[194] On day three of the competition, Phelps competed in the 100-meter butterfly and contributed in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps finished first in a time of 50.86, a championship record.^[195] In the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps, with Lochte, Jason Lezak, and Nathan Adrian, finished first ahead of Australia and South Africa. As the lead-off leg in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps set the championship record in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 48.13.^[196] In his final event, Phelps swam in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Aaron Peirsol, Mark Gangloff, and Adrian and finished first ahead of Japan and Australia.^[197]

2011 World championships

2011 World Championships
	100 m butterfly	50.71
	200 m butterfly	1:53.34
	4×200 m freestyle	7:02.67
	4×100 m medley	3:32.06
	200 m freestyle	1:44.79
	200 m medley	1:54.16
	4×100 m freestyle	3:11.96

In his first event at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Phelps won bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Garrett Weber-Gale, Jason Lezak, and Nathan Adrian.^[198] This was Phelps's first bronze in a World Aquatics Championships. Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 48.08, the second-best lead-off in the field behind James Magnussen's 47.49. In his second event, the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps won silver for the second consecutive time at a World Aquatics Championships. This time he finished second to Ryan Lochte in the event with a time of 1:44.79, compared to Lochte's time of 1:44.44.^[199] In his third final, the 200-meter butterfly, he won his first gold medal with a time of 1:53.34 to become the first swimmer to win five gold medals in one discipline at the World Aquatics Championships.^[200] In his fourth event, the 200-meter individual medley, Phelps again finished second to Lochte in a personal best of 1:54.16, which was 0.16 behind Lochte who swam a new world record.^[201] It was Phelps's 30th medal in the World Aquatics Championships. Shortly after completing the semi-finals of the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps competed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Peter Vanderkaay, Ricky Berens, and Ryan Lochte. Phelps's team won the gold medal in a time of 7:02.67. Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 1:45.53, the third-best leg in the field.^[202] In the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps won his third consecutive title (also winning in 2007 and 2009) and second individual title of the meet with a time of 50.71.^[203] In his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Phelps teamed with Nick Thoman, Mark Gangloff, and Nathan Adrian to win gold in a time of 3:32.06. Phelps's butterfly leg of 50.57 was by far the fastest butterfly leg in the field.^[204]

2012 Summer Olympics

2012 Summer Olympics
	100 m butterfly	51.21
	200 m medley	1:54.27
	4×200 m freestyle	6:59.70
	4×100 m medley	3:29.35
	200 m butterfly	1:53.01
	4×100 m freestyle	3:10.38

Trials

For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps originally stated he would never do eight events again, and would instead try new events. Phelps said, "I keep saying I want to go down and start sprinting, but Bob [Bowman, Phelps's coach] really isn't so keen on that ... I don't think that's going to happen ... Over the next four years, I'd like to try some different events, maybe not do some of the events I did here."^[205][206] However, at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Phelps qualified in the same eight events that he swam in Beijing in 2008. He later dropped the 200-meter freestyle from his program, as he stated he wanted to focus on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.^[207] During the trials, Phelps finished first in the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, and second in the 400-meter individual medley. In making his fourth Olympic team, Phelps holds the record for men for the most Olympic appearances in swimming representing the United States.^[208]

London

On July 28, 2012, Phelps placed eighth in the morning prelims for the 400-meter individual medley. Phelps, the two-time defending Olympic champion, won his heat in 4 minutes, 13.33 seconds with a time that was well off his world record of 4:03.84 set four years earlier in Beijing, when Phelps won a record eight gold medals. He out-touched László Cseh by 0.07 seconds in his heat to qualify last for the final, locking out Cseh. In his first finals of the Summer Olympics, Phelps placed fourth behind fellow American Ryan Lochte, Thiago Pereira of Brazil, and Kosuke Hagino of Japan in the 400-meter individual medley. It was the first time Phelps failed to medal in an Olympic event since 2000.^[209] The next night, in his second event of the Games, he got a silver as a member of the 4×100-meter free relay. Phelps swam the fastest leg of the US relay team and the second-fastest of anyone in the race.^[210]

On July 31, 2012, Phelps won a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly behind South African Chad le Clos by 5/100ths of a second, and a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, thereby equaling and then surpassing Larisa Latynina to become the all-time record holder for most Olympic medals won.^[211][212] Latynina was present at the race and asked to be the presenter of Phelps's medal, but was told that Olympic rules would not allow it. She called Phelps deserving of the record.^[213]

On August 2, 2012, Phelps won his 16th Olympic gold medal when he edged out Ryan Lochte to win the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:54.27, and by that victory also became the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.^[214] Rebecca Soni and Phelps (twice) are the only swimmers to successfully defend an individual title from the 2008 Games.^[215] This win also marked Phelps's fifth Olympic title in the individual medley, breaking the record of four shared by Hungarian Tamás Darnyi and Ukrainian Yana Klochkova.

He repeated the achievement of winning the same event at three Olympics the following evening, winning the Olympic gold medal in the 100 m butterfly, his last individual event.^[216] After two very close victories in the 100 m butterfly at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics (by 0.04 and 0.01 sec, respectively), in this race Phelps beat Le Clos and Yevgeny Korotyshkin, who tied for silver, by 0.23 sec.

Phelps's final event was the 4×100-meter medley relay in which he went on to win his 18th career gold medal and his 22nd overall. By winning 4 gold and 2 silver medals, Phelps concluded the 2012 Olympics as the most successful swimmer of the meet for the third Olympics in a row.^[217][218] After his last event, the international swimming federation FINA honored Phelps with an award commemorating his standing as the most decorated Olympian ever.^[219]

First retirement

After the 2012 Olympics, Phelps retired from swimming, stating: "I'm done. I'm finished. I'm retired. I'm done. No more," and that "I just wanted to be done with swimming and didn't want anything to do with the sport anymore."^[220]

2014 comeback from retirement

2014 Pan Pacific Championships
	100 m butterfly	51.29
	4×200 m freestyle	7:05.17
	4×100 m medley	3:29.94 (CR)
	200 m medley	1:56.04
	4×100 m freestyle	3:13.36

In April 2014, Phelps announced he would come out of retirement, and would enter an event later that month.^[221] In May 2014, he won the 100-meter butterfly event at the Arena Grand Prix in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[222] Phelps was reportedly motivated by the national team's failure to win the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay since their Beijing 2008 and Rome 2009 titles.^[223][224] The relationship between Phelps and coach Bob Bowman had deteriorated in the preparations for London 2012, so Phelps convinced a skeptical Bowman that he "wasn't training for history. He wasn't training for the medals. He wasn't even training for all the fans. This time Phelps wanted to swim for himself...and enjoy the journey".^[224] Since his returning from retirement in 2014, Phelps "scaled back his calorie intake" and "increased his postswim ice baths". By the 2016 Olympic Trials, despite his age Phelps "felt physically stronger in the water, perhaps because of drills Bowman added to his pool workouts, like multiple repeats of 40 seconds of dolphin kicking while hugging a 10-pound weight to his chest".^[225]

2015 US Nationals

After having been dropped from the team for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships for a DUI, Phelps instead competed in the US National Championships (long course) in San Antonio as his target meet of the summer. He won gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly (50.45 s),^[226] 200-meter butterfly (1:52.94),^[227] and the 200-meter individual medley (1:54.75).^[228] In each of these events he swam the fastest time in the world for 2015.

In December 2015 at the Winter Nationals in Federal Way, Phelps won titles in the same three events, again in long course, bringing his career total to 62 national titles.^[229]

2016 Summer Olympics

2016 Summer Olympics
	200 m butterfly	1:53.36
	200 m medley	1:54.66
	4×100 m freestyle	3:09.92
	4×200 m freestyle	7:00.66
	4×100 m medley	3:27.95 (OR)
	100 m butterfly	51.14

Trials

At the US trials in Omaha for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Phelps won the 200 m butterfly (1:54.84), the 200 m individual medley (1:55.91), and the 100 m butterfly (51.00 s) events. This made him the first American male swimmer, and the second American swimmer overall after Dara Torres, to qualify for a fifth Olympics.^[230] Phelps's 100 m freestyle times at the Trials were not impressive. However at a final training camp in Atlanta a week before heading to Rio, Phelps put out "the fourth-fastest flat-start time of the year" in a 100 free time trial, automatically securing one of the seven spots on the Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay for the Olympics.^[231]

Rio de Janeiro

Phelps was chosen to be the American flag bearer at the opening ceremony, which was the first Olympic opening ceremony that he would attend.^[232][233] Phelps was also voted by the U.S. Olympic swim team as one of six team captains for the US delegation to the Olympics.^[234] He displayed a relaxed sociable demeanor in the athletes' village and in press conferences; this pleasant behavior was in stark contrast to his isolation in previous Olympics.^[224] He was accompanied by fiancée Nicole Johnson and son Boomer.^[235]

In his first event on August 7, the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, he won his first gold medal of the 2016 Games and his 19th Olympic gold medal overall. Phelps swam the second leg with what his coach Bob Bowman described as "maybe the best turn that's ever been done",^[236] overtaking France's Fabien Gilot to give his American teammates a lead which they would not relinquish.^[237] Phelps's leg proved to be the decisive factor in the race, and Gilot later remarked "As fast as my teammates were, the extraterrestrial that is Phelps was faster".^[231] Phelps achieved a split time of 47.12, the fourth-fastest of the field (the three fastest times were posted by the team anchors),^[231] which was also faster than any of his relay splits at the last three Olympics.^[238][239]

In his second event on August 9, the 200-meter butterfly, he became the first swimmer in history to make five finals in the same event, after finishing 5th in 2000, 1st in 2004 and 2008, and 2nd in 2012.^[240] (Federica Pellegrini would be the second swimmer to do so at the 2020 Olympics.) At Rio, he won the title that he had lost to Chad le Clos four years earlier in London, edging Masato Sakai by 0.04 s. Phelps stated that winning back this title had been the main goal during his comeback.^[241] The preliminary and final of that event was heavily hyped as a rematch between Phelps and Le Clos. The relationship between Le Clos and Phelps had been cordial back in 2012–13 but it deteriorated in 2014 when Phelps came back from retirement and suggested that the current butterfly times were slow.^[242] In the ready room prior to the preliminary race, Le Clos's shadow boxing while Phelps "glowered in a corner" spawned the Internet meme with the hashtag #PhelpsFace. Le Clos's Wikipedia biography was even vandalized after the event final.^[243] At age 31, the victory made Phelps not only the oldest male champion,^[244] but also the oldest individual champion in Olympic swimming history,^[245] beating the records set by Duke Kahanamoku in 1920, and Inge de Bruijn in 2004 respectively. Phelps also became the first swimmer to win individual gold medals 12 years apart.^[246] Both these records were broken by Anthony Ervin three days later.^[247][248]

Also on August 9, Phelps won his 21st gold medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay together with Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas, and Ryan Lochte.^[249] For Phelps and Lochte, this was their 4th consecutive gold medal in this event,^[250] an all-time record in swimming for any event.^{[citation needed]}

On August 11, Phelps won his 22nd gold medal in the 200 m individual medley. He beat Kosuke Hagino, the 400 m individual medley champion, by 1.95 seconds. This was Phelps's 4th consecutive gold medal in the event as well as his 4th in the Games. He became the first swimmer to win the same individual event four times, surpassing the previous record of three held by Dawn Fraser and Krisztina Egerszegi.^[251] He also became the third Olympian to win the same individual event four times, after athletes Al Oerter and Carl Lewis.^[9][252] With that 13th individual gold medal, Phelps broke an ancient Olympic record, set by Leonidas of Rhodes, who had held the most Olympic individual titles of all time, with twelve.^[244][253]

In the 100 m butterfly, Phelps was defeated in his last individual event of the Rio Olympics by Singaporean Joseph Schooling, when he earned joint silver along with Chad le Clos and László Cseh.^[254][255]

On August 13, in the 4 × 100-meter medley relay, Phelps ended his career with another gold medal, his 23rd at the Olympics and his 28th Olympic medal overall. Together with Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, and Nathan Adrian, swimming as the butterfly leg of the medley, they broke the Olympic record,^[256] and won the United States' 1001st all time Olympic gold medal, in accordance with the USOC.^{[257][258][259]} Phelps retired from competitive swimming again following the Rio Olympics.^[260]

Phelps's performance in the Rio Olympics was unique in "winning multiple gold medals at 31 years old, well beyond the typical peak for male swimmers". Phelps is considered one of the greatest Olympians of all time.^{[261][262][263]}

International long-course competition results

Meet	100 free	200 free	400 free	200 back	100 fly	200 fly	200 IM	400 IM	4×100 free	4×200 free	4×100 medley
OG 2000						5th
WC 2001
PPC 2002
WC 2003											[a]
OG 2004											[a]
WC 2005	7th		18th								[a]
PPC 2006
WC 2007
OG 2008
WC 2009
PPC 2010								heats[b]
WC 2011
OG 2012								4th
WC 2013
PPC 2014	4th
WC 2015
OG 2016

^a Phelps swam only in the heats. Swimmers who participated in the heats only received medals as well.

^b Phelps finished fourth in the heats, but he was the third American, hence he did not qualify for the final

Personal bests

Long course (50-meter pool)

Event	Time	Venue	Date	Notes
100 m freestyle	47.51 (r)	Beijing	August 11, 2008	Former NR
200 m freestyle	1:42.96	Beijing	August 12, 2008	AM, Former WR
400 m freestyle	3:46.73	College Park	August 8, 2003	Former NR
100 m backstroke	53.01	Indianapolis	August 3, 2007
200 m backstroke	1:54.65	Indianapolis	August 1, 2007
100 m breaststroke	1:02.57	Columbia	February 17, 2008
200 m breaststroke	2:11.30	San Antonio	August 10, 2015
100 m butterfly	49.82	Rome	August 1, 2009	Former WR
200 m butterfly	1:51.51	Rome	July 29, 2009	AM, Former WR
200 m IM	1:54.16	Shanghai	July 28, 2011	Former WR*
400 m IM	4:03.84	Beijing	August 10, 2008	WR

r = relay lead-off
*Phelps is a former WR holder in this event, however, his personal best came in a 2nd-place finish to Ryan Lochte's new WR at the 2011 World Championships.

Short course meters (25-meter pool)

Event	Time	Venue	Date	Notes
100 m freestyle	46.99	Manchester	December 18, 2009
200 m freestyle	1:42.78	East Meadow	February 4, 2006
200 m backstroke	1:50.34	Berlin	October 22, 2011
100 m butterfly	50.46	Manchester	December 18, 2009
200 m butterfly	1:52.27	Melbourne	November 28, 2003
100 m IM	51.65	Berlin	October 22, 2011
200 m IM	1:51.89	Berlin	October 23, 2011
400 m IM	4:01.49	Berlin	October 22, 2011

Business ventures

In 2011, Michael Phelps: Push the Limit, an Xbox 360/Kinect game, was released, which promised to bring "the fun, fitness and excitement of head-to-head swimming to your living room."^[264] The game received a lukewarm review from ABC News, which observed that "the title would have been better as cheap downloadable content or packaged in a larger Olympic sports world."^[265]

Personal life

Bob Bowman described Phelps as "a solitary man"^[266] with a "rigid focus"^[18] at the pool prior to a race, but afterward "a man incredibly invested in the success of the people he cares about".^[18] He states that "he's unbelievably kind-hearted",^[266] recounting Phelps's interaction with young children after practices.^[18]

Phelps is married to former Miss California USA Nicole Johnson. They secretly married on June 13, 2016, and the marriage was not publicly reported until four months later.^[267] They met in 2007 at the ESPYs, broke up in 2012, reconciled, and got engaged in February 2015.^[268][269] They have three sons, Boomer Robert Phelps, born on May 5, 2016,^[270] Beckett Richard Phelps, born on February 12, 2018,^[271] and Maverick Nicolas Phelps, born on September 9, 2019.^[272] The family lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona, where Phelps volunteers alongside Bowman as an assistant coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils swim team.^[273]

As a teenager, Phelps idolized Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe and modeled his public image after Thorpe.^[274] Thorpe initially said that it would be highly unlikely for Phelps to win eight gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.^[275] Phelps used the remarks as motivation and taped the words to his locker during the Games.^[276] Thorpe was in the stands for the 4×100-meter medley relay, where Phelps was swimming for his eighth Olympic gold medal. When Phelps and his teammates captured the gold, Thorpe gave a congratulatory kiss to Phelps's mother, then gave a handshake and a hug to congratulate Phelps. Afterwards, Thorpe said "I'm really proud of him not just because he won eight golds. Rather, it's how much he has grown up and matured into a great human being. Never in my life have I been so happy to have been proved wrong."^[161][277]

Phelps has also cited Michael Jordan as a sporting idol of his, and stated that "he changed the sport of basketball".^[278] Phelps is also a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and stated that he found his life purpose and desire to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics after seeking Ray Lewis's advice.^[279][280]

In January 2018, Phelps revealed that he has struggled both with ADHD and depression, having contemplated suicide after the 2012 Olympics.^[281][282]

Legal issues

At age 19 in November 2004, Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland.^[283] He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and was sentenced to serve 18 months of probation, fined $250, ordered to speak to high school students about drinking and driving, and to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.^[284] When Phelps was later asked about the incident by Matt Lauer on the Today Show, he said that he had "let a lot of people in the country down".^[18]

In February 2009, a photograph of Phelps using a bong went viral; this resulted in the loss of the Kellogg's as a sponsor, as well as a three-month suspension by USA Swimming. Phelps admitted that the photo, which was taken at a party at the University of South Carolina, was authentic. He publicly apologized, calling his behavior "inappropriate".^[285]

In September 2014, Phelps was arrested again, this time on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding in Baltimore.^[286] As a result, USA Swimming suspended him from all competitions for six months, and stated he would not be chosen to represent the United States at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in August.^[287] With Phelps off the team, the United States failed to qualify for the finals of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.^[239]

Philanthropy

After the 2008 Olympics, Phelps used his $1 million Speedo bonus to set up the Michael Phelps Foundation.^{[288][289][290]} His foundation focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles.^[291]

In 2010, the Michael Phelps Foundation, the Michael Phelps Swim School and KidsHealth.org developed and nationally piloted the "im" program for Boys & Girls Club members. The im program teaches children the importance of being active and healthy, with a focus on the sport of swimming. It also promotes the value of planning and goal-setting.^[292] im is offered through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America^[292] and through Special Olympics International.^[293] The Foundation has since developed two other programs, Level Field Fund-Swimming and Caps-for-a-Cause.^[294][295]

The Foundation's largest event is its annual fundraiser, the Michael Phelps Foundation Golf Classic.^[296][297] Phelps stated he hoped to work with his Foundation more after retirement from competition following the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[298]

In 2017, Phelps joined the board of Medibio, a company focused on diagnosis of mental health disorders.^[299]

Records

Phelps has set 39 world records (29 individual, 10 relay), which is more records than any other swimmer that is recognized by FINA; this achievement surpassed Mark Spitz's previous record of 33 world records (26 individual, 7 relay).^{[citation needed]} However, Johnny Weissmuller is reported to have broken 67 official world records.^[300]

All but two of the records were set in a long-course (50-meter) pool. As of August 1, 2021^[update], he holds world records in three events (indicated in bold).

No.	Distance	Event	Time	Location	Date	Ref
1	200 m	Butterfly	1:54.92	Austin, Texas, US	March 30, 2001	[301]
2	200 m	Butterfly (2)	1:54.58	Fukuoka, Japan	July 24, 2001	[301]
3	400 m	Individual medley	4:11.09	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, US	August 15, 2002	[302]
4	4 × 100 m	Medley relay[a]	3:33.48	Yokohama, Japan	August 29, 2002	[303]
5	400 m	Individual medley (2)	4:10.73	Indianapolis, Indiana, US	April 6, 2003	[304]
6	200 m	Individual medley	1:57.94	Santa Clara, California, US	June 29, 2003	[305]
7	200 m	Butterfly (3)	1:53.93	Barcelona, Spain	July 22, 2003	[306]
8	200 m	Individual medley (2)	1:57.52	Barcelona, Spain	July 24, 2003	[306]
9	100 m	Butterfly	0:51.47	Barcelona, Spain	July 25, 2003	[306]
10	200 m	Individual medley (3)	1:56.04	Barcelona, Spain	July 25, 2003	[306]
11	400 m	Individual medley (3)	4:09.09	Barcelona, Spain	July 27, 2003	[306]
12	200 m	Individual medley (4)	1:55.94	College Park, Maryland, US	August 9, 2003	[307]
13	400 m	Individual medley (4)	4:08.41	Long Beach, California, US	July 7, 2004	[308]
14	400 m	Individual medley (5)	4:08.26	Athens, Greece	August 14, 2004	[309]
15	200 m	Butterfly (4)	1:53.80	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	August 17, 2006	[310]
16	4 × 100 m	Freestyle relay[b]	3:12.46	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	August 19, 2006	[310]
17	200 m	Individual medley (5)	1:55.84	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	August 20, 2006	[310]
18	200 m	Butterfly (5)	1:53.71	Columbia, Missouri, US	February 17, 2007	[311]
19	200 m	Freestyle	1:43.86	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	March 27, 2007	[312]
20	200 m	Butterfly (6)	1:52.09	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	March 28, 2007	[312]
21	200 m	Individual medley (6)	1:54.98	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	March 29, 2007	[312]
22	4 × 200 m	Freestyle relay[c]	7:03.24	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	March 30, 2007	[312]
23	400 m	Individual medley (6)	4:06.22	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	April 1, 2007	[312]
24	400 m	Individual medley (7)	4:05.25	Omaha, Nebraska, US	June 29, 2008	[313]
25	200 m	Individual medley (7)	1:54.80	Omaha, Nebraska, US	July 4, 2008	[313]
26	400 m	Individual medley (8)	4:03.84	Beijing, China	August 10, 2008	[314]
27	4 × 100 m	Freestyle relay (2)[d]	3:08.24	Beijing, China	August 11, 2008	[314]
28	200 m	Freestyle (2)	1:42.96	Beijing, China	August 12, 2008	[315]
29	200 m	Butterfly (7)	1:52.03	Beijing, China	August 13, 2008	[316]
30	4 × 200 m	Freestyle relay (2)[e]	6:58.56	Beijing, China	August 13, 2008	[317]
31	200 m	Individual medley (8)	1:54.23	Beijing, China	August 15, 2008	[318]
32	4 × 100 m	Medley relay (2)[a]	3:29.34	Beijing, China	August 17, 2008	[319]
33	100 m	Butterfly (2)	0:50.22	Indianapolis, Indiana, US	July 9, 2009	[320]
34	200 m	Butterfly (8)	1:51.51	Rome, Italy	July 29, 2009	[321]
35	4 × 200 m	Freestyle relay (3)[f]	6:58.55	Rome, Italy	July 31, 2009	[321]
36	100 m	Butterfly (3)	0:49.82	Rome, Italy	August 1, 2009	[321]
37	4 × 100 m	Medley relay (3)[g]	3:27.28	Rome, Italy	August 2, 2009	[321]
38	4 × 100 m	Medley relay (sc)[h]	3:20.71	Manchester, United Kingdom	December 18, 2009	[322]
39	4 × 100 m	Freestyle relay (sc)[i]	3:03.30	Manchester, United Kingdom	December 19, 2009	[322]

^a with Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak

^b with Neil Walker, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak

^c with Ryan Lochte, Klete Keller, and Peter Vanderkaay

^d with Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak

^e with Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Peter Vanderkaay

^f with Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and David Walters

^g with Aaron Peirsol, Eric Shanteau and David Walters

^h short course record with Nick Thoman, Mark Gangloff and Nathan Adrian

ⁱ short course record with Nathan Adrian, Matt Grevers and Garrett Weber-Gale

Guinness World Records

Phelps holds 20 Guinness World Records which predominantly consist of accumulative Guinness World Records ("Guinness mosts", records formulated starting with "most") for total number of accomplishments and victories in swimming such as: most medals, consecutive number of medals, most medals within one tournament, most records in swimming etc.^[323] It is the highest number of accumulative Guinness World Records held by an athlete.

1. Most world records set for swimming (male)
2. Most individual swimming Olympic gold medals
3. Most medals won at the FINA Swimming World Championships
4. Most Olympic gold medals in team swimming
5. Most medals won at the Olympics for swimming (male)
6. Most Men's World Swimmer of the Year Awards
7. Most Olympic golds at one Games (male)
8. Most gold medals won at the Olympics for an individual event (male)
9. Most FINA world records held by an individual
10. Most Olympic medals won, Men
11. Most consecutive Olympic swimming gold medals in the same event (male)
12. Fastest swim long course 400 metres medley (male)
13. Most gold medals won at the Olympics (male)
14. Most individual Olympic medals (male)
15. Most swimming Olympic medals won, men (single games)
16. Most Olympic medals won (single games), men
17. Most gold medals won at a single FINA World Championships (individual). He also won most gold medals in FINA world championship's history.
18. Most silver medals awarded in a single Olympic swimming race
19. Fastest swim short course relay 4 x 100 metres freestyle (male)
20. Fastest swim long course relay 4 x 200 metres freestyle (male)

Honors and awards

Phelps was a USA Olympic team member in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016, and holds the records for most Olympic gold medals (23), most such medals in individual events (13), and most such medals at a single games (8, in Beijing 2008).^[3] A street in his hometown of Baltimore was renamed The Michael Phelps Way in 2004.^[324] On April 9, 2009, Phelps was invited to appear before the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate, to be honored for his Olympic accomplishments.^[325]

Phelps has also received the following awards:

• Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year Award: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012,^[326] 2016^[327]
• Swimming World American Swimmer of the Year Award: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015,^[326][328] 2016^[327]
• Fédération internationale de natation swimmer of the year (since 2010): 2012, 2016
• Golden Goggle Male Performance of the Year (since 2004): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,^[3] 2016^[329]
• Golden Goggle Relay Performance of the Year (since 2004): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,^[3] 2016^[329]
• Golden Goggle Male Athlete of the Year (since 2004): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014,^[3] 2015,^[330] 2016^[329]
• Golden Goggle Impact award: 2016^[329]
• SwimSwam Swammy Award for Male Swimmer of the Year: 2016^[331]
• USOC SportsMan of the Year Award: 2004, 2008,^[332] 2011–12,^[333] 2016^[334]
• James E. Sullivan Award: 2003^[335]
• Gazzetta dello Sport Sportsman of the Year: 2003, 2004
• Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award (nominated): 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013^{[336][337][338][339]}
• Laureus Comeback of the Year Award: 2017^[340]
• Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year: 2008^[341]
• Associated Press Athlete of the Year: 2008, 2012
• Marca Leyenda award: 2008
• Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, 2019, to recognize his advocacy for people with disabilities and his own journey with mental health.^[342]

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

• Michael Phelps at FINA
• Michael Phelps at SwimRankings.net
• Michael Phelps at Olympics.com
• Michael Phelps at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee
• Michael Phelps at Olympedia
• Michael Phelps at FINA
• Michael Phelps at USA Swimming
• Michael Phelps at Curlie
• Official website of the Michael Phelps Foundation at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-03-10)

Records
Preceded by Tom Malchow	Men's 200-meter butterfly world record holder (long course) March 30, 2001 – July 24, 2019	Succeeded by Kristóf Milák
Preceded by Tom Dolan	Men's 400-meter individual medley world record holder (long course) August 15, 2002 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Jani Sievinen	Men's 200-meter individual medley world record holder (long course) June 29, 2003 – July 30, 2009	Succeeded by Ryan Lochte
Preceded by Andriy Serdinov Ian Crocker Milorad Čavić	Men's 100-meter butterfly world record holder (long course) July 25–26, 2003 July 9–31, 2009 August 1, 2009 – July 26, 2019	Succeeded by Ian Crocker Milorad Čavić Caeleb Dressel
Preceded by Ian Thorpe	Men's 200-meter freestyle world record holder (long course) March 27, 2007 – July 28, 2009	Succeeded by Paul Biedermann
Preceded by Paavo Nurmi Larisa Latynina Mark Spitz Carl Lewis	Athletes with the most gold medals at Olympic Games August 13, 2008 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Larisa Latynina	Athletes with the most medals at Olympic Games July 31, 2012 – present	Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Ian Thorpe Grant Hackett Ryan Lochte Adam Peaty	World Swimmer of the Year 2003–2004 2006–2009 2012 2016	Succeeded by Grant Hackett Ryan Lochte Sun Yang Caeleb Dressel
Preceded by Michael Schumacher	La Gazzetta dello Sport Sportsman of the Year 2003, 2004	Succeeded by Roger Federer
Preceded by Ryan Lochte Mitch Larkin	FINA Swimmer of the Year 2012 2016	Succeeded by Ryan Lochte Caeleb Dressel
Preceded by Lenny Krayzelburg & Tom Dolan Aaron Peirsol Ryan Lochte Ryan Cochrane & Tyler Clary	American Swimmer of the Year 2001–2004 2006–2009 2012 2015–16	Succeeded by Aaron Peirsol Ryan Lochte Ryan Lochte Caeleb Dressel
Olympic Games
Preceded by Todd Lodwick	Flagbearer for United States Rio de Janeiro 2016	Succeeded by Erin Hamlin