Michael Phelps is the best swimmer ever who has inspired many to swim including me. Over his long career he has won 23 gold medals, 3 silvers and 2 bronze. He’s swam in all of the major tournaments including the Olympics and the World Champions. But do you know what his childhood was like? Well you are about to find out!
He was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s in the United States of America. He was the youngest of three children and suffered from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) as a child.
His parents divorced in 1994, when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 2000. Phelps says that the divorce had a very negative impact on him and his sisters and he grew quite distant from his father during that time.
He started to swim at the age of seven on his sister’s advice and it gave him an excellent way to release his pent up energy. He said, “The only reason I ever got in the water was my mom wanted me to just learn how to swim”.
All of them fell in love with swimming and by the age of 10 he held the national record for his age group (in the 100-meter butterfly).
He started to train with Coach Bob Bowman at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and more records followed; by August 2018 Phelps held 11 age group records!
Although he is now retired, he is still the reigning champion.
My dream is to be a professional swimmer too. Currently, I swim three times a week for Dartford District Swimming Club. I go after school and we train for competitions throughout the whole year. I really love it and it inspires me so much.
In my last competition I swam really well but there’s always room for improvement.
Danni 6C
Blog Club is held on a Monday evening and is a group of about 20 pupils from Riverview Junior School who choose their own content and with the help of the teachers, create blog posts for you to read.
