Michael Phelps, swimming star and the greatest Olympian of all-time, is having the time of his life on Golf Channel’s The Haney Project Series which debuts Monday at 9:00 pm ET, according to USA Today columnist Michael Hiestand.
“I guarantee you, we will have you laughing each part of the show, every single episode,” Phelps told Hiestand. “You may be crying because you’re laughing so hard. We have been laughing every step of the way.”
Apparently Phelps has had some very close call, shots that nearly took out production crew members on the show.
When Hiestand asked Phelps to compare Hank Haney’s coaching style to Bob Bowman’s, Phelps said:
“There are differences. I’m not sure there are too many to be honest. There’s a lot of passion that Hank has with what he does, the same way Bob was.”
Phelps explained further to Heistand that Bowman rarely told him good job, only two or three times in his career: when Phelps won his 22nd Olympic medal and when he went 8 for 8 at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Most fans in the swimming community know how close Phelps and Bowman are. It’s clear, in this instance, Phelps wasn’t being critical of Bowman’s style, only that he was comparing it to Haney’s, who apparently heaps on the praise when working with an athlete. Phelps did add that, at first, he was a little shocked by all the “nice shots” and “good golf swings” he got.
Phelps has gotten a lot of questions about his goals in the sport of golf, and he was cryptic with Heistand as well, veering away from topic, saying his goals for the sport were private.
SwimSwam first coverage this story August 11th 2012.
Catch Phelps on the Golf Channel Monday night at 9m ET.
