"Debbie, he will never be able to focus on a thing in his life."  Could you imagine being the mother on the receiving end of this teacher's comment?  Not so long ago, Debbie Phelps was told these exact words about her ADHD son, Michael.  

     Now imagine being that teacher after watching the ADHD child, who could never focus on anything, break Olympic records in Athens.  That's exactly what Michael Phelps did.  

     The legacy began in 1997, when Phelps was only 11 years old.  His coach, Bob Bowman, could tell Michael was no ordinary swimmer.  Bowman watched Phelps's talent rapidly progress.  he then have Debbie Phelps that shock of her life.

     "Michael is extremely talented.  His potential is unlimited," the coach said.

     The teen who had enormous potential in the water also has regular teen favorites.  His favorite sport to watch is football, and to play, basketball.  Phelps loves Lucky Charms and pizza, as every good American should, and is a big Baltimore Ravens fan.  His favorite actress is Cameron Diaz, and his #1 read is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  
     However, a dedicated athlete doesn't give much time to hobbies and liesure.  Phelps prepared for the games in Athens by swimming 5 hours a day, every day of the week.  Graduating from high school enabled him to commit every waking hour to his life's passion.

     Each day, he woke up at 7am and swam for 2 1/2 hours.  After lunch and a rest, he would go back to the pool from 3:30-6.  He usually tallied about 12 miles a day.  "I knew nobody was going to work harder than me,' he said.

     After the Olympics in Athens, pretty much anyone would agree with that statement.  Michael Phelps swam 17 races in just seven days.  Mark Spitz, who held the record for most madals in a single Olympics (7), swam only 13.  Phelps also had to endure countless drug tests, qualifiers, heats, and a fierce competition with one of the world's best swimmers, Ian Thorpe.

Was Phelps intimidated by any of this?  Apparently not.  He took gold in every event he competed in except two.  one historic race was lost to Ian Thorpe, the "Thorpedo," the 200 free.  The only other gold that slipped through Phelps's fingers was the 4x200 relay.  He received a bronze medal in both events.

     On the other hand, Michael seemed to have no difficulty snatching five other individual medals.  He clenched the 200 and 400 meter medleys, and the 100 and 200 meter fly.  After all this had happened, breaking Mark Spitz's record 7 medals came down to the 400 meter medley relay.  

     So what did Michael Phelps do?  He gave his place on the team to another swimmer.  Not just any swimmer, though, but to Ian Crocker.  Ian Crocker, the man who many believe cost the United States the gold in the previous relay.  Ian Crocker, who Phelps had defeated in an individual race only the night before.  

     "It seemed like a gift that was too big to accept," said Crocker.  Regardless, he accepted, and took full advantage of the opportunity Phelps had given him.  The US team took gold in the relay, with an amazing performance by Crocker.  Phelps got credit for the medal because he swam the qualifying race.

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