Should I still precise Michael Phelps is the best swimmer?

I don't think so hey hey....

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American swimmer who holds world records in several events. Phelps has won thirteen (eleven gold, two bronze) medals overall, eight (six gold, two bronze) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and five (all gold) at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,[2] leading ESPN to call him "the most decorated Olympic athlete".

Phelps's eight medals in the Athens Olympics tied him with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin for the most medals of any type in any one Olympics.

Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being named World Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year in those years and in 2001 and 2002.

Phelps has qualified to compete in eight swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and is attempting to beat Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Olympics.

As of August 13, 2008, Phelps has won five gold medals in Beijing, all in world record time, giving him 11 career Olympic golds, more than any athlete in history.

Personal life

Phelps grew up in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Towson High School in 2003.

His father, Fred Phelps, worked for the Maryland State Police and his mother, Debbie Davisson Phelps, is a middle school principal. The two divorced in 1994.

Phelps, whose nickname is "MP", has two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary Both of them were swimmers as well, with Whitney coming close to making the U.S. national team for the 1996 Summer Olympics before injuries derailed her career.

In his youth, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

He started swimming at age 7, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his restless energy.

He blossomed quickly as a swimmer, and by the age of 10 held a national record for his age group.

More age group records followed, and Phelps' rapid improvement culminated in his qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15.

Between 2004 and 2008, Phelps attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, studying sports marketing and management.

In May 2008, Phelps said he intends to return to Baltimore following the 2008 Olympics, joining Bob Bowman there when he leaves the University of Michigan, saying, "I'm not going to swim for anybody else. I think we can both help the North Baltimore Athletic Club go further.

I'm definitely going to be in Baltimore next year." The club has announced that Bowman is leaving the University of Michigan to become the club's CEO.

In a front page illustrated article profiling Phelps on the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympics, The Baltimore Sun described the hometown swimmer as "a solitary man" with a "rigid focus" at the pool prior to a race, but afterwards "a man incredibly invested in the success of the people he cares about".

Bowman told a Sun interviewer, "He's unbelievably kind-hearted", recounting Phelps' interaction with young children after practices.

Career

As a young teenager, Phelps trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, under coach Bob Bowman.

At the age of 15, Phelps competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, becoming the youngest American male swimmer at an Olympic Games in 68 years.

While he did not win a medal, he was fifth in the 200 m Butterfly.

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 200 m 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 400 m individual medley and set American marks in the 100 m butterfly and the 200 m individual medley.

In 2003, Phelps broke his own world record in the 400 m individual medley (4:09.09) and in June, he broke the world record in the 200 m individual medley (1:56.04).

Then on July 7, 2004, Phelps broke his own world record again in the 400 m individual medley (4:08.41) during the U.S. trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In 2004, Phelps left North Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman to train at the University of Michigan for Club Wolverine.

2004 Athens 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 tied Mark Spitz's record of four gold medals won in individual events.

Phelps had the chance to break Spitz's record of 7 total gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics by competing in eight swimming events (5 of which were individual events): the 200 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly, the 200 m butterfly, the 200 m individual medley, the 400 m individual medley, the 4x100 m freestyle relay, 4x200 m freestyle relay, and the 4x100 m medley relay.

However, his 4x100 m freestyle relay team only won the bronze medal, and he personally placed for bronze in the 200 m freestyle. Thus, he fell short of Spitz's record.

However, he did win eight medals in one Olympics, a feat only achieved by Alexander Dityatin, a gymnast, in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

Had he won seven golds, he would have been eligible for a US$1 million bonus from his sponsor, Speedo.

Phelps does, however, have another chance at this $1 million should he win seven or more golds at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

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

On August 16 he was beaten by the Australian winner Ian Thorpe and the Dutch Pieter van den Hoogenband in 200 m freestyle final, called the race of the century.

On August 20, 2004 in the 100 m 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 4x100 m medley relay.

This gave Phelps an automatic entry into the medley relay but he deferred and Crocker swam instead.

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.

2004 - 2008

Phelps moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan following the 2004 Olympics when his longtime coach at the North Baltimore Athletic Club, Bob Bowman, became head coach of the University of Michigan swimming team.

Phelps served as a volunteer assistant coach, but did not swim for the university's team in NCAA competition because of his loss of amateur status, having accepted endorsement money from his sponsors Speedo, Visa, Omega and PowerBar.

Instead, he trained with and competed for Club Wolverine, a USA Swimming club affiliated with the university, between 2004 and 2008.

The Baltimore Sun said in August 2008 that Phelps earns $5 million annually in endorsements.

At the 2007 World Championships , Phelps won seven gold medals, tying the record, and broke five world records.

He co-founded the "Swim with the Stars" program, along with Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg, a program which promotes swimming and conducts camps for swimmers of all ages.

Phelps set an Olympic record in the preliminary heats of the men's 400-meter individual medley.

He followed that up in the final by winning the gold medal, as well as breaking his previous world record by nearly two seconds.

Phelps swam the first leg of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in a time of 47.51 seconds (an American record for the 100m 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).

Teammate Jason Lezak finished ahead of the silver medalists French team by eight hundredths of a second.

The top five teams in the final finished ahead of the world record of 3:12.23 set earlier in the day by the American B team in a preliminary heat.

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.

Phelps briefly became only the fifth Olympic athlete in history to win nine career gold medals, along with Mark Spitz, Larissa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, and Carl Lewis.

The next day, Phelps would have two finals. In his first event, the 200-meter Butterfly, Phelps made it four events, four gold medals and four world records by swimming the final in 1:52.03, defeating silver medalist Laszlo Cseh by almost seven-tenths of a second.

This fourth gold medal was his 10th, and made him the all time leader for most Olympic gold medals won by an individual.

About one hour after his gold medal victory in the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps swam the leadoff leg of the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay.

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.