Michael Phelps Statement

I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment.  I’m 23-years-old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me.   For this, I am sorry.  I promise my fans and the public – it will not happen again.

Day 1: We left Beijing early this morning at around 1 am.  It was a LONG day!  Actually, it’s been a long 3 days since I finished swimming, but it’s also been fun.  I’ve done more interviews than I can count, a bunch of appearances with my sponsors, and hung out with some friends.  I was pretty happy to get on the plane and just sleep—no cell phone, texts, blackberry, interviews ….  Just some good sleep.

I’m headed to a resort in Europe for a couple of days of relaxation with my friends.  I’m hoping to just hang out, rest up, have some fun, and get ready to travel to London for the big event on the 24^th.  I’m going to need some energy to get through the next few weeks, I think.  Catch up with you all tomorrow.

Check out some photos from today (in my SwimRoom profile).  More to follow in subsequent emails.

-Michael

Hey guys. Sorry it's been awhile since i've updated my blog.  The month of July was pretty busy starting with a meet in Santa Clara.  I had a pretty good meet, breaking some meet records and getting some in-season best times. My mom also came out to the meet because I had a birthday on that Saturday (she gave me an iPhone which is awesome).  

From there I went to the ESPY's.  Filming for the show was on a Wednesday so I left Tuesday morning to get there in time for the pre-party.  The pre-pary was great. I got to meet a bunch of the best athletes in the world and talked to Peyton Manning for a long time.  He's probably one of the most real and down to earth guys that I've ever met. I was hanging out with a few former Michigan athletes, Braylon Edwards and Cato June afterwards and things got a little heated between us and the Ohio State guys. For those of you not familiar, Michigan and Ohio State are huge rivals and athletes from both schools were showing their school pride that night.

The award show was Wednesday. I had great seats in the second row and the show was great-- Jimmy Kimmel and Lebron were hilarious. I also got to present an award with Danica Patrick which was pretty cool. I got beat out by LaDanian Tomlinson for the two awards that I was nominated for, which isn't too surprising. He's a great athlete... but all in all, I had a great time in L.A.

We are now in the middle of taper and getting ready for Nationals in Indianapolis. I will be swimming a few "off" events which I really am excited about.  After Nationals, it will be time to really get focused for Beijing. 

- Michael

Hello everyone.  Just finishing up with training camp in Colorado Springs.  It's been a tough three weeks with swimming about 16,000 meters per day in addition to dryland...but the training has been going great.  I've gotten a lot of really good work in and feel ready to have a good summer.  The Club Wolverine group that came up here has been awesome all around and I think we'll all do some impressive things this year.

I've been spending whatever little down time I have watching movies, playing video games, and playing a lot of online poker (when the wireless internet in the dorms Isn't down).  I've won a decent amount of money since I've been out here so I guess all isn't too bad. 

I really haven't been home in over 2 months since leaving for World Championships and I am really excited to get out of the dorm rooms here at the OTC and back to my house to see my friends, my dog Herman, and especially my new toy... A 2007 supercharged Range Rover (I sold my old Range to my coach, Bob). I will be swimming in the Erik Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix meet from Thursday through Sunday in Ann Arbor immediately after getting home.  This meet will be good to get a chance to compete after training so hard and coming down from altitude. Catch up with everyone later.

- Michael

Hi.  Things on my end are pretty good.  Since the end of Worlds and Duel in the Pool, I've been really busy.  The first stop was China for some promotional stuff for VISA, Speedo, and the Special Olympics. I got to spend some time looking at the site of the 2008 Beijing games which was really good to see.  From China, I flew home to Baltimore for a couple days of taking it easy before heading down to South Carolina to visit some old friends and make a couple of new ones. 

Then I received a bit of sad news as I learned that a young friend of mine named Stevie, who has been struggling with brain cancer, took a turn for the worse. Stevie is really cool, funny kid and he has brought a smile to my face a number of times.  Luckily, I was able to get back to Baltimore to visit with him and I hope to go back again.  News like this, in the middle of an otherwise crazy and busy schedule really puts things in perspective and definitely brought me back to reality a bit.

From Baltimore, I flew out to LA for the Leno show (with Kevin Bacon and actress Hayden Panittiere). It was my third time on the show and it was definitely fun. From LA, I met up with the rest of the Club Wolverine crew at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for the start of a three week training camp.  Then there was another day trip to NYC for a meeting with NBC before finally getting settled in and back to work.  All the traveling was pretty exhausting but I was able to get away from the pool for a bit and meet a lot of new people.

During these few weeks, I also managed to get a little out of shape and overweight and it's been good to start getting my focus back to the pool (today's schedule included 3 swim practices, 15 miles on the stationary bike, and abs).  Talk to you later…

-Michael

Hi.  Things on my end are pretty good.  Since the end of Worlds and Duel in the Pool, I've been really busy.  The first stop was China for some promotional stuff for VISA, Speedo, and the Special Olympics. I got to spend some time looking at the site of the 2008 Beijing games which was really good to see.  From China, I flew home to Baltimore for a couple days of taking it easy before heading down to South Carolina to visit some old friends and make a couple of new ones. 

Then I received a bit of sad news as I learned that a young friend of mine named Stevie, who has been struggling with brain cancer, took a turn for the worse. Stevie is really cool, funny kid and he has brought a smile to my face a number of times.  Luckily, I was able to get back to Baltimore to visit with him and I hope to go back again.  News like this, in the middle of an otherwise crazy and busy schedule really puts things in perspective and definitely brought me back to reality a bit.

From Baltimore, I flew out to LA for the Leno show (with Kevin Bacon and actress Hayden Panittiere). It was my third time on the show and it was definitely fun. From LA, I met up with the rest of the Club Wolverine crew at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for the start of a three week training camp.  Then there was another day trip to NYC for a meeting with NBC before finally getting settled in and back to work.  All the traveling was pretty exhausting but I was able to get away from the pool for a bit and meet a lot of new people.

During these few weeks, I also managed to get a little out of shape and overweight and it's been good to start getting my focus back to the pool (today's schedule included 3 swim practices, 15 miles on the stationary bike, and abs).  Talk to you later…

-Michael  

So far, things have been going really well.  I was ready to swim the 200 Free and I’m really happy with my time.  To break a world record in Australia with the best swimming environment was amazing.  My mom was able to fly over with her cousin Darlene and I’m really happy to have her here to support me.  She sits in the same seat from the beginning of the meet till the end so I know where to look after I’m done swimming.  Tonight is the 200fly and I feel good.  Of course every time you swim in a big meet like this you want a best time.  Talk to everyone to soon.  Thanks for reading my blog and tell all your friends about swimroom!