Michael Phelps' Record-Breaking Career

Michael Phelps is a record-breaking American swimmer. He is famous for winning more Olympics medals than any other athlete. With 28 medals, comprising 23 gold medals, he has rightfully acquired the status of the most decorated athlete in the history of the Olympic games. Michael Phelps established himself as a sublime athlete for four consecutive Olympic Games.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, he surpassed another swimmer, Mark Spitz's 1972 record, by winning eight gold medals. He won two bronze and six gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, tying the record of winning eight medals at single Games. In 2012, he won two silver and four gold medals. In 2016, he won one silver and five gold medals.

Michael Phelps started swimming at the age of seven, and the fact that his sisters–Whitney and Hillary–were members of the local swim team might have influenced his decision. Some critics say that Michael's mother might have insisted he pick up the sport as an alternate means of burning off energy, as he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the sixth grade. However, Michael claimed in an interview, after retiring in 2016, that the precise reason he got into the pool was that his mother insisted he did. Interestingly, he and his sisters loved the sport and decided to continue swimming. When he witnessed Tom Dolan and Tom Malchow perform at the 1996 Olympic Games, in Atlanta Georgia, he decided he would become a champion.

He joined the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center's North Baltimore Aquatic Club, where he met his coach Bob Bowman. Bob instantly discovered young Michael's abilities and helped him train intensively. In 1999, Michael joined the United States National B team. And at the age of 15, he held the record of being the youngest American male swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games in about 68 years.

In the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, Michael set smashed Ian Thorpe's record to become the youngest male swimmer to ever set a world record in the sports, with his remarkable speed in the 200-meter butterfly. After finishing at 1:54:58, Michael broke his record at the World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan, and earned his first international award.

He continued setting records at the 2002 U.S Summer Nationals in the 400-meter individual medley, the 200-meter individual medley, and the 100-meter butterfly. The following year, Michael once again smashed the world record he set at the 400-meter individual medley with a finish time of 4:09.09. By the age of 17, Michael's arsenal of achievements included five more world records.

Michael's career sailed on a streak of victories. In the 2004 World Championships, he had the second-best performance at the single Olympics, with two bronze and six gold medals. He also won four individual titles at the single Games, becoming the second male swimmer to ever win more than two individual titles at a single Games. Michael clinched six medals in the 2005 World Aquatics Championships: one silver and five golds.

In 2006, Michael won three events at the National Championships–the 200-meter butterfly, the 200-meter individual medley, and the 100-meter butterfly. True to his nature as a winner, he took home one silver and five gold medals at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in the same year, where he was recognized as one of the world's best backstroke swimmers. In 2007, at the World Aquatics Championship, Michael tied with fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz, for the world's long-course champion, after winning seven gold medals. In the process, he smashed five world records.

The following year, Michael became the fifth athlete in the Olympics history to win nine gold medals after breaking records in the 200-meter freestyle and the 400-meter individual medley. On August 17, 2008, Michael broke Mark Spitz's record when he won his eighth gold medal. In 2012, the already successful competitive swimmer announced retiring but returned in 2014 to win the 100-meter butterfly event at the Arena Grand Prix in North Carolina. By the end of 2015, he had won 62 national titles.