The last time Phelps denied his comeback via Twitter, it was without the explicitness that would make people feel confident that he meant it.
But just as the rumors and speculation that Phelps will be coming back are getting louder, so are his denials becoming firmer.
In a pre-National Championship meet interview with the USA Today last week, Ryan Lochte quipped, “I think we all know by now that he’s coming back…I don’t think it’s really a surprise. It’s just a matter of when is he going to get back in the full swing of training.”
“Man, people will believe anything that’s written, anything that’s on TV,” Phelps said this week to his hometown Baltimore Sun on his 28th birthday Sunday. “There’s nothing in the works with me coming back to swimming. This is a part of my life I’m enjoying. I’ve never had freedom like this. I live on my own time. I play golf three or four times a week. I wake up whenever I want. I have a few things to do here and there, but mostly my time is mine. I’m not thinking about changing that.”
And so with that, even as more speculation leads more people to not just hope or predict it, but to be convinced that Phelps is coming back, his denials stand firm. If a comeback really were in the cards, Phelps’ denials are not leaving any obvious room for an about-face any time soon. As of the 1st quarter of 2013, he still was not back in the USADA drug testing pool. If he were still not in the pool when the 2nd quarter 2013 results come out, it would put him on a very narrow timeline for a 2014 comeback, at least, as there’s a mandatory 9 month waiting period.
@bossanova — hey, may i know who’s michael andrew???? never heard of him man lol.
and sorry to say dat…if he can beat Phelps in either 1fly or 1free i will let u shave off my head & take it as a soccer ball, k?? deal or no deal… hahahaaa…
Phelps is the best!!!!! He is irreplaceable. I’ll 4ever a big Phelps fan.
I heard he’s afraid Michael Andrew is going to beat him in the 100 fly and 100 free and take all his sponsorships away!
Well I heard that he’s waiting until anthony ervin re-retires. It turns out that ervin and gary hall jr used to bully phelps back in ’00. They’d call him ‘mickey mouse’, hide his stuff and lock him in the lockers.
With ervin back at the ’12 olympics, what were just bad childhood memories resurfaced and became all too real. Who’s mclaughin out loud now?
Who did you hear this from? Phelps got bullied, but I’m not so sure if he’s afraid of those guys.
Even if Hall and Ervin did bully him in 2000, at age 15, I’m sure he long forgot about that by the time he was winning world titles in 2001. Fast forward to 2013 and I’m sure that memory doesn’t even register.
PAC12 is right. Time to start loving the new generation and start letting go of the older….it won’t be long before Lochte will be gone…..Coughlin…..etc. It was just as shocking when Thorpe waved goodbye and we all moved on. As much as I REALLY missed Michael at Nationals/Trials, it was interesting to see the young guns start to move up. Who knows, by 2016, we may all be looking at some incredibly fast swimmers who make us push aside our longing for Michael and look forward to the (then) present and future.
Unfortunately, you can’t force yourself to love someone just because the one you love isn’t around – in life as well as in swimming. A swimmer needs to impress you, to intrigue you, to work their magic so you start paying attention and following their progress. I watched Nationals to see what the deal is with those young dudes and almost no one lived up to expectations (Cordes is the only one, IMO, and of course, Franklin, but I’m talking about male swimmers now). Sorry to say, you can’t be 18,19,20 years old and “promising”. At that age, you have to deliver. Phelps, Peirsol, Thorpe and many others were Olympic champions before they turned 20. Chad le Clos was 20… Read more »
I disagree. It is unfair for the up and comers to have to live in the shadow of Phelps’ history. There will be only one Phelps and this is no reason to not open your arms to the future. If Michael is truly out of the picture now, I will give my full support to those who are training to make their own landmark…their own history…their own “magic”. They may not be like le Clos, Piersol or any of those who made their mark at an early age. Some take longer to get into their stride and I certainly will not pull back support or not be “intrigued” simply because their success comes later rather than early. Late bloomers are… Read more »
Come on! What’s all this pining, longing for Phelp? If he comes back in a couple years, great. In the meantime instead figure out a way for swimming to be relevant on the national stage without him, especially in non-Olympic years.
Honestly, if there’s one event that I have always secretly longed for Phelps to swim, but he never did, it’s the 400 free. That was the one event I always just wanted to see him just give a go at some random Grand Prix or practice meet just to see what he could do. The reason I say this is because I know he still holds NAG records for the 500 free in both the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups. I actually converted his 17-18 NAG 500 free record to a 400 free long course time and got a 3:45.20 on this site’s converter and a 3:46.30 on another site’s converter! Either way, Phelps has such a smooth, beautiful, almost… Read more »
I think Phelps already swam 400 free..
And 500 free yards is one thing.. 400 free is other..
No way Phelps will come back for 400, and if he does he won’t be competitive on olympics final-level. You have no idea what it takes to swim a 3:40. And don’t believe those time converters either.
Phelps has swum 400 in 2005, and it was not a pretty sight. You can argue that he was not training solely for 400, but that happened.
If (or when) Phelps come back, it will be for 100 free/fly.
in 2003 phelps went 3:36 high and set an american record in the 400. if he didn’t do butterfly i think he could have been very very good in the 400 (3:42, 3:41 range, considering how much he improved in the 200)
but he’s too old to try that, and his 3:50 in 2005 shows how hard it is to train for the 100 fly and 400 free (especially when you half-ass the fly too and get whupped by crocker)
actually 3:46
also, if you want to see truly beautiful, effortless strokes in the 400 free, watch any of Ian Thorpe’s clips on Youtube.
Peirsol once said that the perfect swim he ever saw was thorpe in the Athens 400 free final.
Phelps really mastered his loping stroke. ASwimFan, how about Muffat’s smoothness? If Thorpe is winner on the Men’s side, I’d propose Muffat on the Women’s side.
Even if Phelps came back he needs some time for golf. One hundred meters is the longest event in which he can compete while retaining his pleasant new life. How about the 50’s? 🙂
Phelps does not have the front speed for a 50.. he is not a pure sprinter.. his back speed is better as he show is all his 100 races.. he would have to go for 100
He will make a come back.
I think he won’t come back. Judging by his words and the amount of golf stuff he posts on his Instagram he’s enjoying his retirement right now. Bowman told him (and us) what his timeline needs to be if he wants to make a comeback, as in he needs to decide right now and I just can’t see it happening. As he said he’s living his life at the moment. I know a part of me still hopes he will, but the logical part of me says he’s not in the frame of mind where he’s going to get back to the grind… But he should enjoy life, and his travels he earned them!