Michael Phelps—the greatest athlete of all time—turns 40 today. And as much as we celebrated him at 15, 19, 23, 27, and 31, we need him more at 40 than we ever did on the blocks. Phelps wasn’t just a medal machine. He wasn’t just the guy who made the impossible look routine. He was, and is, the north star of swimming—reminding us of what this sport can be when it captures the world’s imagination.
We’re a sport of split-second differences. Tenths, hundredths, thousandths. But every so often, someone comes along who makes the whole world stop measuring—and start marveling. That’s what Phelps did. Icons matter because they define the outer edge of what’s possible. They push the horizon further. They remind the world that sport isn’t just exercise—it’s art, it’s ambition, it’s humanity at full throttle.
Phelps was, and remains, that reminder.
We all have our own Phelps moment.
That snapshot that lives in our brain. For most? It’s Jason Lezak’s miracle anchor in Beijing, Phelps at the edge of the pool screaming into history, the hunt for eight intact. For me? It’s the kid Phelps. 15 years old. A little gawky, still figuring out where his arms and legs went, but crystal clear when he said:
“I want to grow the sport of swimming.”
He said it then. He meant it then. And over the years, that message rang out so often, so consistently, that we all started to take it for granted. But now? That mission feels and is urgent again.
Where We Are Now
Phelps left Rio in 2016 with 28 Olympic medals, the kind of record that makes statisticians stare at their spreadsheets in disbelief. But when he stepped off the stage, something else stepped off with him: swimming’s gravitational pull on the American public.
Since his retirement? USA Swimming registration is down. By 2023, we’d lost 4.6% of our membership. And in the Olympic year when we should’ve been booming? Flat. A net gain of barely 480-485 swimmers.
It’s not just about numbers. It’s about relevance. About identity. About what this sport means to kids, to families, to communities who don’t know what it feels like to hold their breath watching a 400 IM.
The Wake-Up Call
Michael Phelps at 40 isn’t just a birthday headline. It’s a wake-up call.
We don’t need him to race again. We need him to lead. To inspire. To remind the next generation why this sport is worth falling in love with. To show the world that swimming isn’t fading into the background of American sports—it’s still where greatness lives. Because if Phelps taught us anything, it’s that the lanes we swim in are just water. The real work is making people care.
So here’s to Phelps at 40—the GOAT, the guidepost, the man who showed us the outer edges of human ability, and the leader we still need if swimming is going to find its way back.
Happy birthday, Michael. The water’s still yours.
Michael Phelps by Mike Lewis
See Phelps at 11 years old swimming 50 butterfly. It’s grainy old footage, sometimes out of focus, but it remains among my favorite videos of the GOAT.
Follow the Australian model! Their swimmers are honored and taken care of to the nth degree..
The future of swimming right now is Summer McIntosh. The only thing holding her back is being from Canada. They don’t have as big a market or the depth in their relays to add to her gold medal count. But she is sponsored by Red Bull, and that is huge. I know all you old Fuddy-Duddies are going to cry about it being an unhealthy drink, but Red Bull is the premier sports marketing brand right now hands down..
I never expected to get made fun of for crying and be called an “old Fuddy-Duddy” in the same sentence.
Agreed, also Canada has a problem with shedding light on any other sport other than hockey. Canadians don’t care enough about the other sports to talk about them. As a Canadian literally the only time people were like talking about is was briefly after Paris.
I went to a bar once, they had Michael Phelps racing live on TV. Enough said.
I’ve said this before on here but it’s striking to me as someone who’s only been following swimming for 6 months that of the ~10 people I’ve told that I follow pro swimming, about 7 have asked immediately if MP is still competing. I remember his retirement so vividly as someone who could not have named more than two other swimmers at the time!
I watch a lot of old races repeatedly and the sheer emotion on his face in Rio is the best part; I feel like we didn’t see it on that level since Athens. His retirement being on his own terms, his personal growth in his last couple years of competing, his bluntness about his depression, how… Read more »
we need more people who are psychotically competitive like Phelps. Todays stars are wonderful people, but they’re too nice lol
😭😭 It makes for extremely compelling sports, but I think you don’t get this personality type without other issues. He’s spoken at length about his post Olympics depression and having no idea he was outside of the pool, and I think the insane single mindedness and focus absolutely contributed… but there’s no way he would’ve reached the heights he did without the insane competitiveness either.
This is so true
lol true. The closest thing we have gotten to smack talk recently is Ilya Kharun last year saying he’s going to try and beat Leon in the 200 fly
He’s the swimming GOAT, and you can argue he’s the GOAT athlete, but I’m not sure that means as much as you think as far as him being able to just hop on tv and boost numbers for USA swimming. With each passing year, his star fades especially among young people who don’t remember his swimming. And he’s a nice guy, but far from GOAT in terms of an entertaining on air personality. The appeal is mostly just curiosity for those of us old enough to remember his best days but haven’t heard what he’s been up to in a while.
Unnecessary comment.
I’m sure the drop in USA swimming memberships has nothing to with the demographic cliff. Young people are less likely to marry, form families and have children then anytime in the USAs history. We see it all around us. School enrollment are down, schools are closing. I’m a High School swimming official and do summer club meets and I’m really starting to notice it. One HS I officiate, maxed out all available lanes in a typical two heet JV/Varsity match up four years ago. This last season couldn’t even fill the varsity entree’s let alone JV. I asked the coach about and she said the schools enrollment had dropped 25% in the last four years.
Depends on where you live. You don’t add 20 million people to the US population in 4 years and have enrollment shrink in total. It’s booming here.
We have 3mil few people under 18 now then we did in 2016. That is significant
And the boys, in particular, would rather play e-sports (give me a break) than actually do physical activity.
Anything you can do to take the weight off the young shoulders of an athlete will certainly help the sport flourish. The governing body is inept, so let’s get the old rockers off the bench and hand them some pom poms. Mark Spitz is still around, he can warm-up for Michael.
I’m puzzled by a marketing agency that constantly plays a funeral march for their client industry. Is Greta Thunberg on the board of directors there?
I’m a ravenous consumer of the sport, primarily for the skills and performance of the athletes; having been there and done that myself. I guess it was the combination of time standard and the need to push my limits. Call me old school but… Read more »