Michael PhelpsThe crowd roared as he approached the block. As he tightened his glasses, he imagined his race last time. The starter said: get your bearings… go, the race has started. Seconds later, Michael hit the wall and once again, he won gold. Michael Phelps excelled in the sport of swimming and was destined to go to the Olympics. With a little help, he changed the sport of swimming and is arguably the best Olympic swimmer in history. Michael was born on June 30, 1985 and is the only boy out of three children (Courant "Phelps"). Michael started swimming at the age of seven and says it was his older sisters who pushed him to take up the sport (Phelps and Abrahamson 19, 20). He soon realized that he could move quickly in the pool and that it relaxed him. “In the water, I felt, for the first time, in control. Swimmers like to say they can “feel” the water. From the start, I felt it. He quickly learned to find what made him faster or slower (20). During the 1996 Olympics, Michael watched Tom Malchow and Tom Dolan swim and during that, he quickly realized his dream ("Phelps" Current). He wanted to win a gold medal (Phelps and Abrahamson 20). At the age of 11, Michael joined the NBAC and shortly after, Bob Bowman became a new coach ("Phelps" Current, Abrahamson 26). Phelps and Bob Bowman began to trust each other and became very close. He knew that Michael had something very special (Abrahamson 26). Michael says he feels like his coach is like his older brother, but the two also know how to motivate each other. "But just for example, if I really want a reaction from him, I'll just say, 'Well, it's obvious you don't really want to do that.' Why don't you get out of here? It will absolutely launch...... middle of paper ...... story (Smabl 10). Michael Phelps has had an incredible career in the sport of swimming and the statistics can prove it. Phelps, at the age of 15, made an Olympic team, being the youngest man to do so since 1932 (Busnak 32). At the 2004 Olympics, he won six gold medals. He also captured five Olympic records and two world records. In Beijing, Michael won eight medals, all gold. He set nine Olympic records and eight of them still stand today. Seven of the nine records were also world records. At the 2012 Olympics, Michael won six more medals, including four gold (33). Outside of the Olympics, Michael has also won numerous other titles, including thirty-three medals, including twenty-six gold, at the World Championships. He also won 5 world championship titles in a single event. Michael also defends several of these titles.