If you had never heard the name "Michael Phelps" before August of this year, you aren't alone. However, even before Michael Phelps shattered Mark Spitz" Olympic record for the most Gold Medals in one Olympiad, he was a big star on the international swimming scene. In fact, the 2008 Beijing Olympics were the third Olympics for this golden boy.
So just who is Michael Phelps?.
Michael Phelps was born on June 30 in 1985 in Baltimore, the third child of Fred and Debbie Phelps. He grew up swimming for the North Baltimore Swim Club, in part as an outlet for his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. As he grew, it became obvious that his physical stature was just right for swimming. Today his 6"4" frame, size 14 feet and 6"7" arm span are considered by his coach Bob Bowman to be at the core of his success.
Back in 2000, Michael Phelps was a 15-year old phenom, the youngest to make the U.S. Olympic team. At those games in Sydney, Michael swam well enough in the 200 meter butterfly semi-finals to make the medal round. He finished a respectable fifth, and returned to the United States and to his sophomore year of high school. The next year, at the 2001 World Championships in Fukoka, Japan, Michael took first place in the 200 meter butterfly and broke the world record.
Over the next three years, Michael would shatter world records, swim in meets around the world, and pick up sponsorships and endorsements worth millions, before traveling to the 2004 Olympics in Athens where he won eight medals, including six gold and two bronze.
For the next four years, from 2004 through 2008, Michael attended the University of Michigan, where NCAA rules against endorsements meant he could not compete on the collegiate level, but where he swam for the Wolverine Swim Club, a private club affiliated with the university.
Between 2004 and 2008, Phelps" true abilities became clear, as he won nearly every race he entered, winning 17 World Championship races and breaking seven world records.
