We all know and love Michael Phelps. He’s the most decorated Olympian in history, with 28 medals…23 of them gold. His career spanned five Games — two decades of dominance.
You’re probably curious, what did Phelps do to become the greatest swimmer the world has ever seen? Today we’re diving into how Michael Phelps became a superstar athlete who made history.
Early Years
Michael Phelps was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland. He started swimming at age seven, for two reasons. The first? His older sisters, Hilary and Whitney, swam, and he wanted to try the sport. The second? Phelps had a ton of energy as a kid, and his mom felt that swimming could help him keep it under control.
He discovered how much he loved swimming, and ended up joining the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at age 10.
Discovering His Potentia
Around this time, Phelps met his coach, Bob Bowman. As a coach for North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Bowman recognized Phelps’ potential, and started pushing him to train harder.
By 1999, Phelps had made the U.S. National B Team. He was just 14!
At 15, he turned pro, becoming the youngest male swimmer ever to do so. For the next 16 years, Bob Bowman and Michael Phelps traveled the world together competing internationally and eventually became household names.
Coach Bowman was there when Michael made his first Games in the 200 meter butterfly and represented Team USA in Sydney, Australia, and when he became the youngest swimmer ever to break a world record, winning the 200 meter butterfly at the 2001 World Championship Trials.
Coach Bowman coached Phelps through all five Games, and all 28 medals.
Phelps has said that training with Bowman is the smartest thing he’s ever done. So much so, that he has followed his coach around the country to keep training with him.
He followed Bowman from Maryland to the University of Michigan in 2004 when Bowman was named head coach of the school’s varsity swimming program.
The two ended up back in Maryland when Bowman was hired as CEO of North Baltimore Aquatic Club in 2008. And then, in 2015, Bowman started as head coach at Arizona State University, and Phelps moved to Paradise Valley, Arizona, where he still lives today.
Training Style
It’s no secret that Phelps trained hard. You have to if you want to be the greatest swimmer in the world! During the peak of his training, Phelps swam about 80,000 meters a week. That’s almost 50 miles!
He would swim twice a day, and sometimes more if he was training at high altitude. A lot of his training was focused on drills, underwater kicking, vertical kicking and sculling. Even the best of the best need to work on the fundamentals every day!
Bob Bowman is to thank for such rigorous, specialized training. Phelps has said that Bowman reminds him of a drill sergeant!
Dryland was a big part of Phelps’ routine, too. He hit the gym to lift weights at least 3 times per week. Overall, he trained for 5 to 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. Training was a full time job!
On top of his workouts, sleep and recovery were also an essential part of Phelps’ training. Inadequate rest could impact his performance and leave him prone to injuries. Phelps has said that he would sleep at least 8 hours per night, and take a 2 to 3 hour nap during the day.
He would spend weeks at a time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to reap the benefits of training at altitude. When he wasn’t in the mountains of Colorado, he often slept in an elevation chamber in his bedroom.
The Diet of a Champion
When you train as much as Phelps did, you’re going to get hungry. And Phelps was definitely an eating machine.
There was a rumor that he ate upwards of 12,000 calories a day, but Phelps himself squashed that myth. He actually ate 8 to 10,000 calories each day to fuel 30 hours per week of training.
In one interview, he said maintaining his diet felt like a job. An important job, but a job nonetheless.
So, what did a full day of eating look like for Phelps? According to a 2012 interview with Men’s Health, Phelps would down a large ham and cheese omelet, a big bowl of oatmeal, fruit and coffee for breakfast. Lunch was often a hearty meatball sub. For dinner, Phelps piled his plate high with lean meats, whole grains and lots of veggies. He often went back for seconds!
