Watching Michael Phelps win 8 Gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics was the spark that got me back into swimming. Sure, I'm no Michael Phelps, but watching his meteoric rise to becoming the greatest Olympian, if not the greatest swimmer of all time, has inspired me to do and to achieve things I never thought were possible at my age. When he retired after the 2012 Olympics, he vowed to never race again. We were all hoping he would change his mind, but after a year and a half, it appeared he truly meant it when he said "never".
After months of rumors and after 18 months of playing golf and hanging with his friends, he decided to throw his hat back in the ring and I couldn't be happier. I attended his first meet, the Mesa Grand Prix, in April of this year. For someone who hadn't been training that much, it was nothing short of incredible.
And now, just 4 months after his "comeback" meet, Michael won his first gold medal in international competition at the 2014 Pan Pacs in Australia. Truly amazing and inspiring.
When I swam in the early 70s, you were considered "old" by the time you were out of college. Michael turns 30 in a few months, and I can't wait to see what he pulls off in Rio in 2016!
Michael Phelps of the U.S. holds up his men's 100m butterfly gold medal at the Pan Pacific swimming championships in Gold Coast, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. RICK RYCROFT — AP Photo
