“I was a super bratty, annoying little kid” - Michael Phelps on why he’d never become a coach
Michael Phelps is undoubtedly the greatest Olympian of all time, with the sheer quantity of swimming Olympic medals won. No other Olympic athlete has come close to matching his 28 medals across five Olympic events, including his 23 gold medals.
Flying Fish in the pool, Michael Phelps said he does not foresee a future in the sport after retiring, either as a coach or mentor and most definitely not as a breakout star. In an interview with CBS News 10 years ago, when asked if he thought he had a future in swimming as a coach, his reply shocked the world:
"I know how I was as a kid. I was a super bratty, annoying little kid and I just don't see myself like being able to, I guess, deal with that."
When the interviewer asked whether he wanted to coach the future Michael Phelps, he said,
"No, not if he was anything like I was when I was a kid... no shot."
Michael Phelps career
The Baltimore native, 36, is physically suited for swimming. Phelps' 6-foot-4 stature, broad shoulders, and massive hands and feet, which function like fins, provide him with the ideal body for his chosen sport.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when he was 15 years old, Phelps became the youngest man to represent the United States on the swimming team in 68 years, leaving his stamp on the Games (Ralph Flanagan was 13 at the 1932 Olympics). The 200-meter butterfly, which would later become his hallmark event, earned him a fifth-place finish in Sydney, but that was the lowest Phelps would ever finish in an Olympics.
With the exception of the 400m individual medley in the 2012 London Games, Phelps won medals in all four of the subsequent Games' competitions.
Phelps decided to retire after competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The greatest swimmer of all time recorded a 47.12 second performance, the quickest 100m free split of his career, in his final Olympic event, the 4x100 medley relay, to really go out on top. He increased his overall tally in Rio by six medals (five golds).
What does Michael Phelps do apart from swimming?
Phelps sells swimwear and training equipment under his own brand. He thought the swim gear offered to competitive swimmers was insufficient, according to the Phelps Brand website, so he teamed up with his coach Bob Bowman to market their years of expertise. Phelps' initial product was introduced in 2015, and the company relaunched in July 2020.
Phelps has been active in a number of philanthropic endeavors in addition to his company. He established the Michael Phelps Foundation with the $1 million Speedo bonus he received during the 2008 Games. Since then, the group has expanded and now emphasizes water safety, healthy living, and encouraging youth to pursue their ambitions.
In 2017, he joined the board of Medibio, a company dedicated to identifying mental health issues. Phelps acknowledged his struggles with ADHD and depression in 2018 and said he now advocates for mental health.
The 23-time Olympic gold medalist loves golf and is frequently spotted playing it. After making a 159-foot putt at the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Phelps cemented his reputation as a skilled golfer.
Michael Phelps and his wife Nicole have three children together, namely Boomer, Beckett, and Maverick. The pair also describe themselves as the parents of their two dogs, Legend and Juno.