“Pretty wild stat”- Michael Phelps reacts to him holding a world record for over two decades
Michael Phelps broke and created world records at his will. His first world record came when he was just 15 years old.
Phelps recently shared a post by SwimSwam on his Instagram story. The post was about a world record for the longest time. He mentioned his coach Bob Bowman and wrote:
"Pretty wild stat @coach_bowman We had a good run @ it Thank You"
Michael Phelps reacts to his record
SwimSwam recently posted the stats of swimmers who held the world record interruptedly for a long period. The list was headed by American swimmer Mary T. Meagher, who held a world record in Women's 200-meter butterfly for 20 years and 315 days.
Michael Phelps followed her to the second spot with a world record in the Men's 400-meter Individual Medley that he made in 2002. Interestingly, his record still stands, and there is a high chance it will cross Meagher's mark.
Phelps' 400-meter Individual Medley world record
Michael Phelps set a world record for the 400-meter individual medley in the Nationals' qualifying competition for the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With a run of 4:11.09, Phelps broke the previous world record set by Tom Dolan. Erik Vendt came in second place and ran faster than the last record with a time of 4:11.27.
Throughout his career, Phelps would go on to break the 400 IM record seven more times. He broke the record at the 2008 Olympic Games and has held on to it ever since. He clocked 4:03.84 in the Individualdual Medley event.
Michael Phelps' Career
Phelps has taken home 82 medals from significant long-course international competitions, including the Olympics, World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships, of which 65 were gold, 14 were silver, and three were bronze.
He first competed in the long-course World Championships in 2001, winning just one gold medal. However, he now has 28 gold medals in the competition.
Michael Phelps first won his Pan Pacific medal in 200-meter IM in 2002. His last medal in the same competition came in 2014.
Interestingly, he has just one gold medal in the short-course World Championships.
He took home six golds and two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Games. His only other Olympic medals were the two bronzes listed above.
During the 2008 Olympic Games, he took home eight gold medals. Phelps earned the most gold medals in any Olympic series at the Beijing Games.
The number of Olympic gold medals earned by athletes at the London Games was the lowest ever. After the 2012 Olympics, he declared his retirement after winning four golds and two silver medals.
In May 2014, he returned to competitive swimming, winning the 100-meter butterfly race.
He took home five golds and one silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the 100-meter butterfly competition, he won his lone silver medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the men's 4x100-meter Medley Relay, he finished last. His squad easily took home the gold medal.