How to Swim Like Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is an eight-time Olympic medal champion in swimming. The gold medalist started swimming at the age of 11 when he followed his sisters and joined the local swim team. Five months after swimming for Team USA in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Phelps broke the 200 meter butterfly to become the youngest swimmer to set a world record at age at 15 years and 9 months. Six of his eight medals are gold medals.

Instructions

    • 1

      Dream big and be aggressive in your decisions. Phelps wanted to be the best in his sport; thus he worked hard every day since he was 11 to become the best he possibly could be. In his mind, nothing is impossible for him.

    • 2

      Never say never. Phelps is known for reaching the goals that he sets out to reach. He is also known for blocking out any pain he feels while training or during a competition to finish. He is able to mentally gather extra energy to finish.

    • 3

      Practice, practice, sleep, then practice some more. A regular day for Phelps is a heavy workout starting at 6 a.m. for a few hours and then back to the pool again in the afternoon or early evening. He rarely does dry land workouts, such as running; he focuses his training more in the pool doing harder sets.

    • 4

      Shave your entire body. Phelps usually shaves every hair on his body about every 6 months. He claims that this makes him go faster in the water: "I shave the day before the meet...so when you get in the water the next day, you feel unbelievable. If you shave a few days before, then get in the water, you won't feel as good as you do if you shave the day before."