Michael Phelps to End Retirement
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MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES(NEW YORK) — Swimmer Michael Phelps is coming out of retirement.
The 28-year-old Phelps will compete for the first time since the 2012 London Games at a meet in Mesa, Ariz., on April 24-26.
Phelps is a 22-time Olympic medalist who could now entertain the possibility of swimming at a fifth Olympics in Rio in 2016.
Bob Bowman, Phelps’ longtime coach, told The Chicago Tribune on Monday that the swimmer is entered in three events — the 50- and 100-meter freestyles and the 100 butterfly.
“We have discussed a long-term plan in general terms, but until he swims in a meet we’re not going to know,” Bowman said. “Will he be eighth? Second? Sixteenth?
“I think he certainly won’t be embarrassed swimming in the meet, and I think he will be competitive. The difference is he is doing half the training he used to.”
Phelps has completed his six-month waiting period by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to be eligible for competition. He began training again last fall.
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