Michael Fred Phelps II yesterday clocks 31year and also finished first in 1:54.84 at the men’s 200-meter
butterfly here at U.S. Olympic trials, securing his roster spot for the Rio
Games becomes the first American male
swimmer to make Five Olympic team. Here are
some amazing facts about the greatest swimmer....
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Michael
Phelps comes from a broken home in Baltimore. His policeman father Fred and
school teacher mother Debbie separated when he was only seven. Elder sister
Whitney, also a swimmer, has written that she used the swimming pool as a
refuge from the yelling.
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As an
‘attention deficit hyperactive disorder’ (ADHD) child, at the age of seven, he
was introduced to swimming as an outlet for his energy.
·
Michael
Phelps comes from a family of swimmers. His sister, Hilary, swam for the
University of Richmond and his sister, Whitney, swam at the 1996 Olympic
Swimming Trials.
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Michael Phelps'
nicknames are "MP" and "Gomer", attends the University of Michigan, studying sports
marketing and management.
·
When he was
10, Phelps attended the 1996 Olympic Trials to support Sister Whitney. She
finished sixth in the 200m butterfly final and failed to make the team. The
family cried in the stands. Whitney's career was cut short by four herniated
discs.
·
Michael
Phelps is 6'4" tall and weighs 200 pounds. Phelps was literally made to be a swimmer, and has a
reach that extends three inches further than his height, relatively short legs
which lower drag, and flipper-like size 14 feet that can rotate 15 degrees more
than average. However, his remarkable success isn’t strictly due to a natural
born physique. He also has an astonishingly brutal training regimen. Phelps training schedules of practice twice a day,
six days a week amounts to 80,000 meters of swim. This is equal to 50 miles. To
overcome boredom, he listens to
hip hop and rap to help him get focused before a race, downloading tracks on
his MP3 player. Among his favourites is American rapper Young Jeezy. Phelps had the advantage of extra 15 degree
rotation in his feet, than a normal, to go along with size 14 feet and 6 feet 7
inch reach
·
Michael
Phelps needs to wolf down a lot of calories to have the energy for all his
swimming. For breakfast, he often eats two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, a bowl of
grits, a large omelette and a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes.
HONOURS AND RECORDS
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Just a few weeks before his 15th birthday in 2000, Phelps
became the youngest swimmer to make the US Olympic team since 1932.
·
Michael
Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a
total of eight, surpassing Mark Spitz
- Michael Phelps is the first male swimmer to break two world records
in separate events in the same day.
·
Michael Phelps is also
the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads.
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Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (18, double the second
highest record holders),
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Olympic gold medals in individual events (11), and Olympic medals in individual events for a male (13).
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In winning eight gold medals at the 2008
Beijing Games, He has won a total of
77 medals in major international long-course competition, totalling 61 gold, 13
silver, and 3 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World,
and the Pan Pacific Championships.
·
Phelps
is the world record holder in 100 and 200 meter butterfly, 400 meter individual
medley, 200 meter freestyle and 200 meter individual medley.
·
Michael
Phelps is the proud holder of 27 U.S. National Titles
·
Michael
Phelps is sponsored by Visa, Speedo, Power Bar, At&T Wireless, Omega and
Kellogg's.
yaaagaaah...
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