Early years He was born in Baltimore Maryland on 30/6/85.

He began swimming when he was 7 years old.

His full name is Michael Fred Phelps II.

Michael’s sister Hilary began swimming the year Michael was born. He mostly watched his sister practice and eventually started swimming himself.

When he was at the age of seven Michael wouldn’t even put his face in the water.

But eight years later…

He was the youngest male that competed in the Olympics since 1932. Michael had managed to secure one of the best lanes and was surrounded by world professionals.

He was just 15 years old when he came 5th in the 200-meters butterfly at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Michael Phelps also became the first swimmer to ever break 5 individual world records at one meet.

This meet was in 2003 at the World Championships in Barcelona.

He placed in the Athens 2004 Olympics by receiving 8 medals.

There he received six gold medals and two bronze medals.

In Beijing 2008, he recived 8 gold medals, which made him the best Olympic swimmer ever.

Athens 2004Aug. 14 - 400-meter medley – GOLD – 4:08.26 (world record)

Aug. 15 - 4x100 freestyle relay – BRONZE – 3:14.62 (with Ian

Crocker, Neil Walker, Jason Lezak)

Aug. 16 - 200 freestyle –BRONZE – 1:45.32

Aug. 17 - 200 butterfly – GOLD – 1:54.04 (Olympic record)

4x200 freestyle relay – GOLD – 7:07.33 (with Ryan Lochte, Peter

Vanderkaay, Klete Keller)

Aug. 19 - 200 medley – GOLD – 1:57.14 (Olympic record)

Aug. 20 - 100 butterfly – GOLD – 51:25 (Olympic record)

Aug. 21 - 4x100 medley relay – GOLD – 3:30.68 (Phelps swam in

heats, did not swim in final)

Beijing 2008Aug. 10 - 400 medley – GOLD – 4:03.84 (world record)

Aug. 11 - 4x100 freestyle relay – GOLD – 3:08.24 (world record, with

Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak)

Aug. 12 - 200 freestyle – GOLD – 1:42.96 (world record)

Aug. 13 - 200 butterfly – GOLD – 1:52.03 (world record)

4x200 freestyle relay – GOLD – 6:58.56 (world record, with Ryan

Lochte, Rickey Berens, Peter Vanderkaay)

Aug. 15 - 200 medley – GOLD – 1:54.23 (world record)

Aug. 16 - 100 butterfly – GOLD – 50.58 (Olympic record)

Aug. 17 - 4x100 medley relay – GOLD – 3:29.34 (world record, with

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Jason Lezak)

London 2012July 29 - 4x100 freestyle relay – SILVER – 3:10.36 (with Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Ryan Lochte)

July 31 - 200 butterfly – SILVER – 1:53.01

4x200 freestyle relay – GOLD – 6:59.70 (with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Ricky Berens)

Aug. 2 - 200 medley – GOLD – 1:54.27

Aug. 3 - 100 butterfly – GOLD – 51.21

Aug. 4 - 4x100 medley relay – GOLD – 3:29.35 (with Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen, Nathan Adrian)

Rio 2016August 7 - 4x100 freestyle relay – GOLD – 3:09.92 (with Caeleb

Dressel, Ryan Held, Nathan Adrian)

August 9 - 200 butterfly – GOLD – 1:53.36

4x200 freestyle relay – GOLD – 7:00.66 (with Conor Dwyer, Townley

Haas, Ryan Lochte)

August 11 - 200 medley– GOLD – 1:54.66

August 12 - 100 butterfly– SILVER – 51.14

August 13 - 4x100 medley relay – GOLD – 3:27.95 (with Ryan

Murphy, Cody Miller, Nathan Adrian)

In total that’s 23 GOLD medals and 28 Olympic medals in general!

Michael is 6-4 ft. tall and has a wingspan of almost 80 inches. This puts him with having a great sized body for a swimmer.

He weighs 195 lbs.

How to train like an Olympic swimmer

Warm up with jackknife crunches (three sets of 20), push-ups (three

sets of 25 to 35) and bodyweight squats (three sets of 25)

Begin in the pool with 50-meter drills, including using a kickboard to

isolate upper or lower body on different laps

At moderate intensity, swim distances of 50m, 100m, 150m and

200m, with 30 seconds of rest between each interval

At high intensity, swim distances of 200m, 150m, 100m and 50m,

with 30 seconds of rest between each interval

To finish, do 12 laps "with a pool buoy between your legs, breathing

only four times on each lap," then do five more laps alternating

between sprint and relaxed paces to cool down

How to eat like an Olympic swimmer

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelette. One bowl of grain. Three slices of French toast topped. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread, plus energy drinks that supply him with another 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta, an entire pizza and even more energy drinks.

One of the great things he is known for is his endurance. He also doesn’t get nervous before a race but shows a lot of passion when he is on the starting block.

Michael Phelps listens to hip hop and rap to help him get focused before a race.

Let’s take a look at some highlights

So who would win? Michael Phelps or a shark?

Sources

http://www.answers.com/topic/michael-phelps

http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympics/great-olympians/aquatics/michael-phelps.html

http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Phelps/Phelps_bio.html