Michael Phelps was born Michael Fred Phelps on June 30, 1985 to parents Fred Phelps, who worked for the Maryland State Police, and Deborah Sue Phelps, a middle school principle. Michael Phelps has set world records by garnering 14 Olympic gold medals. He currently holds seven swimming world records.



Michael Phelps grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He has two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary. At the age of nine years old, his parents got divorced. Phelps attended and graduated from Towson High School in 2003. When he was younger, Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In order to have an outlet for his uncontrollable energy, his sisters influenced him to take up swimming. This proved to be an excellent idea as Michael excelled at such a young age and his rapid progress made him qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the very young age of 15.

In November of 2004, Phelps pleaded guilty to a DUI arrest in Salisbury, Maryland. As his probation, Phelps was ordered to pay a fine of $250, and was obligated to give a talk to high school students about driving under the influence of alcohol. It was quite a low time for Phelps, who felt as if he let a lot of people including himself down because of the incident.

Phelps decided to put his life back on track when he attended the University of Michigan in 2004 up to 2008, where he took up sports marketing and management. He also vowed to help the North Baltimore Aquatic Club after the 2008 Olympics. He currently holds the record for most gold medals at a single Olympic games. In the 2008 Olympics, his eight medals beat Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Overall, Michael Phelps has 16 Olympic medals which include 14 gold medals and 2 bronze, 8 of which he won at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Because of these records, he garnered international titles such as the World Swimmer of the Year Award from 2003 to 2008, as well as the American Swimmer of the Year Award from 2001 – 2008. Throughout his career, Phelps has won over 50 medals. These competitions not only include the Olympics, but also other World and Pan Pacific Championships. In 2008, Phelps earned the Sportsman of the Year award given by Sports Illustrated magazine.

In the earlier half of 2009, a photo of Phelps published by a British tabloid showed him using a bong, smoking marijuana. He guiltily admitted to the behavior, regretted it and called it bad judgment. Because of this, USA Swimming suspended him from competing for three months. Kellogg's, one of Phelps' many orders, made an announcement that they would not renew his contract as the brand's endorser. Currently, Phelps still has over $5 million per year in endorsements which include Mazda and Speedo. Phelps uses the bonuses he gets from these endorsements to create the Michael Phelps Foundation, which is a charity that advocates swimming for children. I wish you the best of luck in discovering as much information as you can about Michael Phelps.