Who is Michael Fred Phelps

Who is Michael Fred Phelps? The sports world knows him as Michael Phelps, he is an American swimmer and 11-time Olympic Gold medalist who holds world records in several events.

Phelps won eight medals in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which tied him with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin for the most medals of any type in any one Olympics.[2]
Overall, Phelps has won thirteen Olympic medals (eleven gold, two bronze): eight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (six gold, two bronze) and five at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (all gold),[3] which gave him the most gold medals of any Olympic athlete of the modern Olympic era.
Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007.
So far, Phelps has won a total of 45 career medals: 37 golds, 6 silvers and 2 bronze. This includes all the Championships he has competed in: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Phelps has qualified to compete in eight swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and is attempting to surpass fellow US swimmer Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Olympics.

Phelps was born June 30, 1985 and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood. He graduated from Towson High School in 2003.[4] His father, Fred Phelps, worked for the Maryland State Police and his mother, Debbie Davisson Phelps, is a middle school principal.[5] The two divorced in 1994.[4] Michael, whose nickname is "MP", has two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary.[4][5] 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).[4] He started swimming at age seven, 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.[6]
In November 2004, at the age of 19, Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the following month and was granted probation before judgment and ordered to serve 18 months probation, fined $250, obligated to speak to high schoolers about drinking and driving and had to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.[7][8] Questioned about the incident later that month by Matt Lauer on the Today Show, Phelps said it was an "isolated incident" and that he had "definitely let myself down and my family down…I think I let a lot of people in the country down."[4]
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.[9]
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".[4] Bowman told a Sun interviewer, "He's unbelievably kind-hearted", recounting Phelps' interaction with young children after practices.[4]

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.[10] 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
See also: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics
Event
Results
Time
400 m individual medley
Gold Medal, World Record
4:08.26[11]
100 m butterfly
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
51.25[12]
200 m freestyle
Bronze Medal, American Record
1:45.32[13]
200 m butterfly
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
1:54.04[14]
200 m individual medley
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
1:57.14[15]
4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Bronze Medal
3:14.62[16]
4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold Medal, American Record
7:07.33[17]
4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold Medal, World Record
3:30.68[18]