46 Fun Facts About Michael Phelps

In 2017, Phelps raced a computer-generated version of which shark?

Great white: the computer-generated shark, its pace based on real sharks, beat the 28-time Olympic medallist over 100 metres, even with Phelps wearing a monofin.

What treatment left the purple circles on Phelps's shoulders and back at the Rio 2016 Olympics?

Cupping pulls the skin up into cups with heat or a pump, rupturing tiny capillaries; athletes use it for recovery, and Phelps was the most prominent athlete showing the bruises in Rio.

Greg Harden, who counselled Phelps, famously mentored which NFL quarterback?

Tom Brady, whom Harden began counselling as a college quarterback, later wrote the foreword to Harden's 2023 book, Stay Sane in an Insane World.

In which city was Phelps born?

Baltimore is where Phelps was born; in 2015 he left his hometown club and moved to Arizona to keep training under his longtime coach.

Which coach trained Phelps from the age of 11 through his entire career?

Bob Bowman coached Phelps from age 11 to Rio, and when a German in a polyurethane suit beat him in 2009, Bowman threatened to pull Phelps from international meets.

Phelps was diagnosed with which condition as a child?

ADHD, along with his protruding ears, made Phelps a target for bullies at school.

Phelps began swimming after which relatives joined a local swim team?

Sisters Whitney and Hilary joined first; Phelps was a little scared to put his head underwater, so he started with backstroke.

At 15, Phelps became the youngest American man on an Olympic swim team in 68 years; at which Games?

Sydney 2000 was his debut, where Tom Malchow won the 200-metre butterfly; at the next Games, in Athens, Phelps won that title himself.

Phelps won seven golds at the 2007 Worlds; what cost him an eighth?

A relay team disqualification: a teammate left too early at a changeover in the medley relay heats, which Phelps had sat out; a year later he won all eight in Beijing.

Three days after Phelps became the oldest individual Olympic swimming champion in Rio, which American took that record?

Anthony Ervin won the 50-metre freestyle at 35, sixteen years after winning the same event as a 19-year-old, having quit the sport for years in between.

In which event did Phelps win his first Olympic gold medal, at Athens in 2004?

The 400-meter individual medley opened his Athens bid for the single-Games gold record; that bid stopped at six golds, and he won eight in Beijing.

At Athens, Phelps gave up his medley relay final spot so which teammate could swim for gold?

Ian Crocker, whom Phelps had beaten by four hundredths of a second in the 100 butterfly, swam the final, and Phelps still got a gold for swimming the heats.

Which American swimmer's single-Games gold-medal record did Phelps break at Beijing 2008?

Mark Spitz was expected to shine in 1968 but won only relay golds; at Munich four years later he won seven golds, all in world-record time.

Which US swimmer anchored the Beijing 4x100 freestyle relay, running down Alain Bernard by 0.08 seconds?

Jason Lezak began the anchor leg almost six-tenths of a second behind and still touched first, keeping Phelps's bid for eight golds alive.

What went wrong for Phelps during his 200-metre butterfly gold in Beijing?

His goggles filled with water from the start, leaving Phelps unable to see for the final 100 metres; he counted strokes and still won in a world-record 1:52.03.

Which Serbian swimmer did Phelps beat by a hundredth of a second in the Beijing 100-metre butterfly?

Milorad Čavić lost 50.58 to 50.59, and Serbia's protest was overruled after officials reviewed the finish.

In 2008 Phelps volunteered for Project Believe, a programme of extra drug tests run by which body?

USADA's Project Believe tested athletes beyond WADA rules, and Phelps said he joined to do more tests and prove he was clean.

Phelps's LZR Racer swimsuit, launched before Beijing 2008, was tested in which organisation's wind tunnels?

NASA shared wind tunnels at its Langley Research Center; suits like the LZR Racer sent world records tumbling, and swimming banned them from 2010.

In 2019, which American broke Phelps's 100-metre butterfly world record, which had stood since 2009?

Caeleb Dressel had won relay gold alongside Phelps in Rio, then broke his old teammate's record at the 2019 World Championships.

Which sponsor dropped Phelps after a photo of him using a bong went viral in 2009?

Kellogg's dropped Phelps after the photo spread, and USA Swimming added a three-month suspension from competition.

Phelps finished fourth in his first final at London 2012; which American teammate won that race?

Ryan Lochte won that final, but days later Phelps turned the tables and beat him to win the 200-metre individual medley.

Which South African beat Phelps by five hundredths of a second in the 200-metre butterfly at London 2012?

Chad le Clos had named Phelps as his sporting hero before the Games, then came from third at the final turn to touch him out.

Which Soviet gymnast's all-time record for most Olympic medals did Phelps pass in London?

Larisa Latynina came to London hoping to present Phelps with the medal that broke her record, but Olympic rules did not allow it.

Why was Phelps left off the U.S. team for the 2015 World Championships?

A second DUI arrest, in September 2014, brought a six-month USA Swimming suspension and kept Phelps off the 2015 Worlds team; he then spent weeks in rehab.

Rio 2016 was Phelps's fifth Olympics; which woman was the only U.S. swimmer to get there before him?

Dara Torres came out of retirement twice to reach her fifth Games, and at 41 she won three silver medals in Beijing.

What honour did Phelps receive at the Rio 2016 opening ceremony?

He was the U.S. flag bearer, chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members, and Phelps said this time he wanted to walk in the opening ceremony and take it all in.

The Rio ready-room meme of Phelps glowering at a shadow-boxing rival spread under which hashtag?

#PhelpsFace caught him glaring at the rival who had beaten him for the 200-metre butterfly title in London; in Rio, Phelps won it back as that rival finished fourth.

Phelps's Rio 200 fly win made him the oldest man to win individual Olympic swimming gold, beating whose 1920 record?

Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian who defended his 100-metre freestyle title in 1920, went on to popularise surfing around the world.

By winning a fourth straight 200 IM in Rio, Phelps joined which two track-and-field greats?

Al Oerter won his 1964 discus gold despite a torn rib injury, and Carl Lewis took his fourth long-jump title in 1996; Phelps matched them in Rio.

Phelps's 13th individual gold broke a 2,000-year-old record for individual Olympic titles held by which Greek?

Leonidas of Rhodes won the stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos at four successive ancient Games from 164 to 152 BC, a 12-title record that stood 2,168 years.

Who beat Phelps in his final individual race, the Rio 100-metre butterfly?

Joseph Schooling had met his idol Phelps as a boy in 2008; in Rio he beat him to win Singapore's first Olympic gold.

In 2024, which swimmer became the second after Phelps to win the same individual event at four straight Olympics?

Katie Ledecky won her fourth straight 800-metre freestyle title in Paris, a streak that began at 15 in London, where she beat defending champion Rebecca Adlington.

What is the name of Phelps's first son, born in May 2016?

Boomer was three months old in Rio, and after his victories Phelps stopped to kiss him.

Which Laureus award did Phelps win in 2017?

Phelps took the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award in 2017, recognising his return from retirement to win five golds and a silver in Rio.

Phelps's wife Nicole Johnson previously held which title?

Nicole Johnson held the Miss California USA 2010 title; she and Phelps married quietly in Arizona in June 2016, and news broke only in October.

Phelps took golf lessons from Hank Haney, the former coach of which golf star?

Tiger Woods worked with Hank Haney for six years until Haney quit as his coach in 2010, then wrote a book about their time together, The Big Miss.

Phelps founded the Michael Phelps Foundation with a $1 million bonus from which sponsor?

Speedo had offered Phelps $1 million if he matched the single-Games gold record; he collected after Beijing and used the money to launch his foundation.

A famous myth claimed Phelps ate roughly how many calories a day in training?

The 12,000-calorie figure spread during Beijing 2008; Phelps later said he actually ate around 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day at his training peak.

In 2023, which swimmer broke Phelps's last remaining individual long-course world record?

Léon Marchand did it at the 2023 Worlds while coached by Phelps's own former coach, and at Paris 2024 he won four individual golds.

Phelps is a minority owner of which English football club, alongside Will Ferrell and Russell Crowe?

Leeds United had just been relegated when the San Francisco 49ers' investment arm took full control in 2023, and in 2025 the club won promotion back to the Premier League.

Which NFL linebacker did Phelps credit with helping him find purpose and decide to compete in Rio?

Ray Lewis gave Phelps a copy of The Purpose Driven Life when he went to rehab, and the book deeply touched him.

In 2011 Phelps lent his name to a swimming video game for which motion-sensing system?

Xbox Kinect let players swim by moving their arms, but going too fast drained their stamina, so winning depended on pacing.

After the 2004 Olympics Phelps followed his coach to train at which college?

Phelps moved to Ann Arbor in 2004 when his coach became head coach at Michigan, training with Club Wolverine and taking sports-marketing classes without pursuing a degree.

Which Australian idol's doubts about his Beijing goal did Phelps tape to his locker?

Ian Thorpe had said he doubted Phelps could sweep his Beijing programme; Phelps pinned the quote in his locker, and Thorpe later said he had never been happier to be wrong.

Phelps holed a 159-foot putt at a 2012 golf event in which country?

Scotland: Phelps sank it in the pro-am of the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links, a tournament he played while pursuing golf after swimming.

Phelps co-executive produced which 2020 HBO documentary on Olympic athletes' mental health?

The Weight of Gold examines widespread mental health struggles among Olympians; Phelps, who has spoken about his own depression after London 2012, helped produce it.