Baltimore's King Of All Olympians

Phelps was born in Baltimore, Maryland,[6] and raised in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood of nearby Towson.[18] He attended Rodgers Forge Elementary, Dumbarton Middle School, and Towson High School.[19] Phelps is the youngest of three children. His mother, Deborah Sue "Debbie" Phelps (née Davisson), is a middle school principal.[20] His father, Michael Fred Phelps, is a retired Maryland State Trooper who played football in high school and college and tried out for the Washington Football Team in the 1970s.[20][21] Phelps is of English, German, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh descent.[22] His parents divorced in 1994 when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 2000.[21] Phelps later revealed that the divorce had a severe negative impact on him and his siblings, and his relationship with his father was distant for a few years after the divorce.[23] He graduated from Towson High School in 2003.[24]

Phelps began swimming at the age of seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his energy.[25] After retirement in 2016, he stated "The only reason I ever got in the water was my mom wanted me to just learn how to swim. My sisters and myself fell in love with the sport, and we decided to swim."[26] When Phelps was in the sixth grade, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).[27][28] By the age of 10, he held a national record for his age group (in the 100-meter butterfly)[29] and began to train at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman. More age group records followed, and as of August 21, 2018, Phelps still held 11 age group records, eight in long course,[30] and three in short course.[31]