Word: phelpses
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Growing up with two sisters who swam competitively, Phelps was practically raised at the pool. "The summer he was born was the summer I started swimming," says his oldest sister Hilary, 26. "The poor kid was always getting dragged to the pool." His mother Debbie remembers bringing baby Michael along...
Once he did, his talent surfaced almost immediately. Swimming with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at age 11, he set a national record for his age group in the 100m butterfly. That caught the attention of Bob Bowman, then an assistant coach at the club. "What I noticed about him...
Bowman could see that Phelps was born to swim. Blessed with a sinewy, whiplike body, a long torso and large hands and feet, plus a 6ft. 7in. arm span that extends 3 in. beyond his height (the usual ratio is 1 to 1), Phelps has as close to an ideal...
Capitalizing on that, Bowman tried Phelps in other strokes and found that the gangly teen was a quick learner with an uncanny feel for the water. Still, Phelps says, "he took every single stroke and changed it. From Day One, he wanted me to swim multiple events." That meant an...
The teen did balk, though, when Bowman tried to fix his starts and turns, the one area in which Phelps falters. In a sport measured in hundredths of a second, getting a smooth start can mean a world record; not wasting time at the wall can separate medal winners from...