2015-04-01
2596
1. Michael Phelps was born on July 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland.
2. He started swimming in 1993.
3. In 1998 Michael Phelps began training with his long-time swimming coach Bob Bowman.
4. When he was 16 Michael qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
5. At the 2000 Summer Olympics M. Phelps finished sixth in the 200 meter butterfly.
6. After graduating from Towson High School in the spring of 2004, Michael set seven world records.
7. At the 2004 Athens Olympics Michael Phelps won six bronze and two gold medals, matching the previous record for most medals won by an individual in a single Olympics set by Aleksander Dityatin in 1980.
8. Michael Phelps entered the university of Michigan in 2006.
9. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Michael won ten gold medals.
10. Michael`s grand total of gold Olympic medals is 15.
Michael Phelps is a swimming sensation who`s made sports history. Since 2001, he has broken and reestablished several new world records in competitive swimming. His success at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was amazing (six gold and two bronzes). Finally, the 23 year-old swimming star took the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing like a storm by winning eight gold medals! That brings his grand total of gold Olympic medals to 14!
Michael Fred Phelps II was born on June 30, 1985, in Baltimore, Maryland. He began swimming at a very young age, following in the footsteps of his father Fred, an all-around athlete, and his two elder sisters, Hilary and Whitney, who showed early promise as swimmers.
As a kid, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). At the age seven he started swimming partly because he could release all that extra energy in the pool. Young Michael first mastered the backstroke because he was scared to put his face in the water.
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In 1996, when he was 11, Michael Phelps met his long-time swimming coach, Bob Bowman, after he started training at the Baltimore Aquatic and Fitness Center. Bowman, who knew right away that Phelps had what it took to be an exceptional athlete, took him under his wing and they began an intense training regime together, often working out up to 10 times per week.
Michael Phelps made history by qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15-years-old. By qualifying for the 2000 Olympics Michael Phelps became the youngest member of the US Olympic team since 1932. Phelps finished fifth in the 200 meter butterfly and shattered the 15-16 National Age Group record.
During the spring of 2001, five months after the Olympics, Michael Phelps became the youngest male swimmer in history to ever set a world record in the 200-meter butterfly. Not long after achieving that milestone, he established a new record in the same event in Japan, during the 2001 World Championships.
Shortly after graduating from Towson High School in the spring of 2003, the 17-year-old set five world records, including the 200-meter individual medley at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. At the US Summer Nationals in College Park, Maryland, Michael Phelps became the first male swimmer to win five national titles in a single meet.
Michael Phelps became a mini media sensation going into the 2004 Athens Olympics, as he was heavily hyped to beat legendary swimmer Mark Spitz`s record-setting seven gold-medal wins at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
He fell short of matching Mark Spitz`s accomplishment when he took two bronze medals but he did manage to collect six gold medals at the Games, with a grand total of eight to his name, matching the previous record for most medals won by an individual in a single Olympics set by Aleksandr Dityatin in 1980.
Michael Phelps enrolled himself at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the fall of 2005, following Bob Bowman, who accepted the position of head coach of the university`s varsity swim team.
Three years later at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Michael took his game to a whole new level as he completely dominated. Michael made history by being the only Olympic athlete to ever win eight gold medals! Not only did he win eight golds, he won each race in world-record fashion. No doubt, Michael will go on as one of the greatest (if not best) Olympians ever!
Notes:
· grand total — общий итог
· Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) синдром дефицита внимания и гиперактивности
· what it take (амер) — способности
· to shatter — разбить вдребезги
· milestone — веха
· medley swimming – комбинированное плавание
· to hype — превозносить, раздувать шумиху (в прессе)
· set — серия (прыжков, заплывов и т. д.)
· to enroll - зачислять
· varsity — университетская или школьная спортивная команда.
