Michael Phelps swims during the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials on July 4, 2008The superstar started swimming at the age of seven, encouraged into the sport by his family as a way to control his attention deficit disorder. At 15 he participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he ranked 5th in the 200m butterfly. Only months later he broke the event record at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, thus starting his career of record breaking which includes top times in the 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly. At the 2007 world championships Phelps won seven gold medals and broke five world records.
Making his start at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the hometown hero is affectionately nicknamed "The Baltimore Bullet." After the 2004 Olympics, Phelps followed his longtime coach Bob Bowman to the University of Michigan where he joined Club Wolverine. As a star swimmer he helped to found the "Swim with the Stars" program to promote the sport of swimming in the United States.
Phelps has long been compared to legendary swimmer Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. With eight gold medals up for grabs in Beijing he has a good shot at beating Spitz's record and becoming one of the most decorated Olympians in history.
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