Michael Phelps Explains Retiring Before 30, Says Chase Kalisz is Swimming’s New Talent to Watch

The greatest Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, is clearly enjoying retirement as evidenced by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interview above.

Phelps has no plans for the future, other than promoting the sport of swimming, which has been his mantra since he was sixteen.

Chase Kalisz, Michael Phelps former training partner at NBAC

On the swim side of things, it sounds like he has been following swim news…somewhat. It’s tough to tell. The WSJ interviewer asked Phelps toward the end of the video if he knew of any new talent emerging. Phelps commented on former NBAC training partner and IM specialist, Chase Kalisz, said he followed his progress at SEC Championships.  (Watch Kalisz’s SEC SwimSwam interview here, where he comments on Conor Dwyer’s SEC record and Tyler Clary’s NCAA Record.)

It’s understandable Phelps would give a shoutout to his training buddy (NBAC Swim Coach, Bob Bowman, certainly lit up Twitter with his congratulations), but you have to be a little curious whether or not Mr. Swimming is following Ryan Murphy or Jack Conger’s progress, among many others?  Knowing Phelps, who has surprised me commenting on swimmers’ times down to the one-hundredth, he probably has. Also, he seems to be aware of his impact in the community, seems to understand that staying neutral on emerging Team USA talent is, perhaps, the best position. Still, it’d be great to hear his thoughts on Olympic Hopefuls as they progress toward the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

You can catch Phelps weekly on Golf Channel’s The Haney Project, Monday, 9pm ET.

You can follow Michael Phelps on Twitter here.

You can follow Chase Kalisz on Twitter here.  

You can follow Coach Bob Bowman on Twitter here.