Multiple gold medal winning swimmer Michael Phelps is making headlines once again – but they are decidedly more positive now. As you may remember, Michael got in a little trouble after his Olympic victories. He was photographed smoking weed, was arrested two times for DUI, had a little stint in rehab and was suspended from competition. For a while, it seemed he’d go down in history as the “bad boy of swimming.”
Well, the tide has certainly turned for the 30-year-old athlete. After retiring from swimming in 2012, he got back into the water and is planning to compete in his 4th Olympics in Rio next year. Michael received the award for Male Athlete of the Year at the USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards (which is actually a thing) in Los Angeles on Sunday. He explained “It feels good to be back in the pool again and to be happy in the pool again, actually wanting to do it again. I think for a couple of years I was checked out.”
In addition to his return to competition, Michael and his fiancee, 29-year-old former Miss California Nicole Johnson, recently announced they were expecting their first child, a boy. Michael made the announcement via his Instagram account. Nicole showed off her baby bump in a tight fitting dress on the red carpet at the Golden Goggle Awards.
Did Michael’s “little swimmers” produce a future aquatic Olympian? That remains to be seen, but Michael recently told US Magazine, “If he wants to swim, I’ll let him. But I’m not pushing him. Everyone’s been commenting like, ‘I guess he’ll be in the Olympics in 2032, but no… if he wants to swim, he’ll swim, but he’ll definitely be water safe, that’s for sure.” Competition + fatherhood should hopefully keep Michael out of the deep end. (See what I did there?)
Hard to imagine producing a child with him. The jokes write themselves.
His face is unfortunate, but he must have a killer body under this suit.
He has confirmed that he has Marfan’s syndrome which contributes to some of his physical characteristics.
I didn’t know about the Marfan’s symdrome. I hope the baby will be fine.
I had no idea about the Marfan’s either. I think that makes his athletic accomplishments all that more impressive.
I thought Phelps denied having Marfan’s syndrome in his autobiography, but of course that was written years ago.
I’ve read an article from last year where he says he tested negative for Marfan’s, but he meets most of the criteria. Since Marfan’s usually includes a deadly flaw in the aorta, he said he’s being constantly monitored by doctors. I don’t think he has classic Marfan’s – the extreme athletic situations he is in would pretty much kill anyone with classic Marfan’s. He may have a yet unknown mutation that presents as Marfan’s without the deadly vascular issue.
I personally think he has Fragile X premutation, or in other words is a “carrier” to fragile X syndrome (FXS) – his mother has told stories about his autistic-like behaviors as a child that caused his parents to start him in swimming. FXS can cause facial characteristics like Michael’s, hyper-flexibility, and personality traits that border on ASD or OCD. So for Michael, he certainly doesn’t have full-on FXS, but people with the premutation can show some of these traits very mildly, if at all. Many people with the premutation have no clue they are carriers.
True story: I recently went to Arizona, and in the airport, I was on the escalator, and in front of me I saw a pair of ears sticking out of a hat. I thought to myself, “Those ears look like Michael Phelp’s.” Sure enough, it was him.
Congratulations, she’s very pretty.
Here’s hoping he gets his father’s talent and his mother’s looks.
Happy for him. He always seemed like a decent enough guy, and even when he was getting in trouble it was kind of clear it was adjustment to fame etc and didn’t seem in character to the type of person he is.
He looks quite handsome in these photos, and healthy as well. His fiancé is gorgeous!!
I thought all the censure was unfair because it was obvious he was simply having delayed adolescent behaviour that he probably would have indulged in as a normal adolescent were it not for the fact that he spent those years in a pool competing to become an Olympic athlete unlike his contemporaries.
Yes, exactly. And along with the endless training he put a lot of pressure on himself for so many years, which I think contributed to his bad choices.
Reading about this also brings up memories of the whole Ryan Lochte era…ugh.
@Esmom: Jeah! Lochte was a little ridiculous but harmless 🙂
Phelps was immensely successful at a pretty young age, and was paid very, very handsomely for it. Part of the problem was that he was surrounded by ‘yes men’ who just wanted an opportunity to say they hung out with Michael Phelps or they partied with him. Young man + money + every chance to party = trouble. Hopefully he’s got his head on straight again, not just for the Olympics but for his own health and well being.
Nope, DUI’s are not normal adolescent behavoir. No pass on that one. Drinking, sure. Marijuana, ok. Putting others at risk, refuse to believe that is part of a normal young adult phase.
You can’t be serious. Two DUIs are not “delayed adolescent behavior.” That is the behavior of an entitled, selfish jack*ss who thinks the rules shouldn’t apply to him and has no regard for any human life other than his own.
I read the SI article and was not surprised to find he had a lot of emotional baggage related to his parents’ divorce and his dad’s level of involvement through the years. Plus yeah, no normal rebellious teen years there. Anxious to watch him in Rio with baby looking on!
I can’t believe he’s only 30, it seems like he’s been around forever. I will always have a soft spot for him, the whole Phelps show in Beijing was so entertaining. The Olympics are as questionable as FIFA but god, the athletes make it worth it. Almost.
So my cousin went to Michigan at the same time as phelps. She went to a Halloween party one year and spent quite a bit of time telling a guy in a speedo with several Olympic medals what a dumb costume it was. Yeah she found out later phelps went as himself that year….but she did say he was really nice about it and it was a funny conversation.
I really dislike when athletes retire and come back several times. Either stay in and compete at most events if you are uninjured or retire for good.
He has been competing at events and broke world records this summer.
Back in 2012 he kept saying that was his final Olympics. He had retired and took at least a year off.
I hear you but I’ve come to think the decision to retire is a lot more complicated than it might seem on the surface for many athletes. Phelps was really burned out, I think he genuinely thought he wanted to retire. But once he got his mojo back I can see that it would be tempting to come back, especially when swimming is basically all he knows.
“little swimmers”
*snickers*
Call me old fashioned here, but could they not wait until they got married to produce a kid?
I wonder that in this day and age. Who knows….it’s gonna be a lot right before the Olympics, but I guess they’re both up for it.
Call me clueless but … why would they? I don’t see the difference.
Can’t speak for Michelle, but I’m an old fuddy-duddy, obviously. I enjoyed my wedding so much without the added stress of a baby. Plus, the years before we became parents are really the only ones I’d relive. 😣
Michelle – I agree. Most likely this baby was a “surprise” so…
I think people should enjoy being married a few years before bringing a child into the mix.
Alrighty Michelle, I’m going to call you old-fashioned.
It’s 2015 & sometimes things happen, birth control isn’t 100% chica.
You’re old fashioned I guess. I have been with my partner for 10 years, I have no desire to marry him at all even though I love him. We feel married already, we are committed to each other and I would be and am perfectly happy to have kids with him without ever getting married.
It’s 2015 not the 50’s – not all women aspire to find a man, get married and have kids I guess.
Rio Olympics will be his fifth Olympic games; Sydney, Athens, Beijing, and London were the previous four.
The girlfriend and the baby seem to have helped him mature.
Trapped.