Michael Fred Phelps was born on June 30, 1985, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. His mother, Debbie Phelps, was a teacher, and his father, Fred Phelps, was a police officer. His parents divorced in 1994. He has two older sisters named Hillary Phelps and Whitney Phelps. Phelps began swimming at the age of five as part of a treatment for hyperactivity, a decision that would eventually turn him into an Olympic champion applauded by the entire world. At the age of 15, he was called up to the United States National Team. After taking a one-year break, he completed high school in 2003. In 2004, he followed his coach to the University of Michigan, where he continued his education in Sports Management. He lived in a four-story house near the university and spent his limited free time playing video games such as X-box and Playstation and using devices like Blackberry.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where he competed for the first time, Phelps finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly. Although this result did not earn him a medal, it was enough to break the United States record for his age group. His true breakthrough came at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where he won six gold medals and two bronze medals, establishing himself as a global sports icon.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in China, Michael Phelps made history by surpassing Mark Spitz’s long-standing record of seven gold medals won at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Phelps became the first athlete in history to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, a feat that secured his place among the greatest athletes of all time.

Across the Olympic Games he competed in, Phelps won a total of 14 Olympic gold medals, making him the athlete with the most gold medals in Olympic history at that time. Including World Championships and Olympic competitions, he accumulated a total of 37 gold medals, an unmatched achievement in the sport of swimming.

Standing 1.93 meters tall, Michael Phelps has been swimming since the age of five. His wingspan is approximately 10 centimeters longer than his height, an unusual anatomical feature that provides a significant genetic advantage in the water. His coach, Bob Bowman, has frequently described Phelps as having an “Aquatic Body.” He has relatively short legs, a long torso, a wingspan of 2.10 meters, large hands, and shoe size 48.5. These features allow him to take fewer but more powerful strokes. His joints are extremely flexible, enabling his famous dolphin kicks after starts and turns.

The most critical advantage Phelps possesses is his extraordinary cardiovascular capacity. His heart can pump nearly 30 liters of blood per minute, roughly three times that of an average person. His body also produces very low levels of lactic acid; even after a race, the lactic acid concentration in his blood measures around 5 millimoles per gram, about half or even one-third of that found in typical swimmers. As a result, he tires much later than his competitors. However, his extreme joint flexibility causes balance problems on land, leading to frequent falls, and for this reason, running has been forbidden by his coach.

Michael Phelps has worked with the same coach, Bob Bowman, since the age of 11. In 1996, Bowman implemented an intense training program to increase his young athlete’s pre-adolescent aerobic capacity. By the end of 1997, Bowman told Phelps’s parents that he believed they could raise a future Olympic champion and encouraged Michael to quit lacrosse, American football, and baseball. The following year, Sunday training sessions were added, and soon Phelps was swimming nearly 365 days a year, covering up to 80 kilometers per week. Until 2000, he did not perform any weight training outside the pool. After 2004, his weekly training sessions were reduced to six days.

Each year, Phelps spent three weeks training in Colorado Springs at the United States Olympic Training Center under Bowman’s supervision, alongside ten teammates. At an altitude of 1,800 meters, he completed 70 training sessions in just 24 days, with four sessions per day—three in the pool and one outside. Sometimes his first training session began as early as 4 a.m.

Coach Bowman collaborated with leading experts across the United States to continuously monitor Phelps’s performance. Genadijus Sokolovas, the Scientific Director of USA Swimming, used a self-developed device to conduct swim-power tests throughout the year. During training, an electronic belt placed around Phelps’s chest transmitted data 60 times per second, while two cameras—one at the poolside and one underwater—recorded every movement. These analyses were used to further refine the efficiency of his arm and leg movements.

Often described as a human created to swim, Michael Phelps is widely regarded as the most successful swimmer in history. It is estimated that he earned around 5 million dollars annually from sponsorships and advertising deals. Among his many sponsors, his most significant agreement was signed in 2003 with swimsuit manufacturer Speedo. The six-year contract promised him a 1 million dollar bonus if he won seven gold medals at a single Olympics and equaled Mark Spitz’s 1972 record.

In 2004, he also signed a four-year agreement with the Chinese company Matsunichi, earning an additional 4 million dollars. After the 2004 Olympics, he toured 15 cities across the United States with his teammates as part of Walt Disney’s Swim With The Stars tour, where they taught swimming to young people. Ticket prices ranged between 25 and 100 dollars. Behind much of this commercial success was his manager Peter Carlisle from the company Octagon, who had represented him since 2001.

According to the Toronto Sun, Phelps’s wingspan measures approximately 203 centimeters, compared to his height of 1.93 meters. While an average person’s arm span is roughly equal to their height, Phelps’s arms are about 10 centimeters longer. This provides a major advantage, especially in the butterfly stroke. His ankle flexibility exceeds that of other swimmers by around 15 degrees, giving his feet a natural fin-like effect. Similar flexibility in his knees and elbows allows for stronger and longer strokes.

Michael Phelps was directed toward swimming at a young age as part of treatment for hyperactivity and soon realized that his physical differences gave him an advantage in the sport. At just 15, he became the youngest swimmer selected for the United States National Team since 1932. With 14 Olympic gold medals, he stands as the most decorated Olympic athlete in history. Before races, he often enters the pool wearing headphones, listening to his favorite genre of music, rap. Due to the extreme softness of his joints from spending most of his life in water, he struggles to walk comfortably on land, which is why his coach has banned him from running.

According to the New York Post, Michael Phelps consumes approximately 12,000 calories per day to sustain his intense training schedule of around 30 hours per week. His daily diet includes three main meals. For breakfast, he eats three cheese and egg sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise, followed by two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, three powdered-sugar French toasts, and three chocolate chip pancakes. Lunch consists of pasta with garnish, two large hamburgers, a mayonnaise and cheese sandwich, and a 1,000-calorie energy drink. Dinner includes pasta, an entire pizza, and another 1,000-calorie energy drink. This nutrition plan, followed for five hours a day and six days a week, ensures he receives the necessary carbohydrates for peak performance.

Michael Phelps has been in a relationship with Nicole Michele Johnson since 2009. They have a son named Boomer Robert Phelps, born on May 5, 2016. At the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Phelps carried the American flag, symbolizing his legendary status in Olympic history.

Source: Biyografiler.com