Ten years after retiring from competitive swimming with 23 Olympic gold medals, Michael Phelps returned to a pool deck Saturday, this time as a spectator and a dad.
Phelps attended two days of the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, bringing along his sons Beckett, 8, and Maverick, 6. His wife Nicole was also there. Oldest son Boomer, 10, stayed home with youngest brother Nico, age 2. According to the Associated Press, the meet features national teams from the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan.
The U.S. team is being coached by Bob Bowman, who guided Phelps throughout his record-setting career. Bowman has become a familiar figure in the Phelps household.
"Grandpa Bob is giving him some pointers here and there," Phelps said of Beckett. "I would say he's got more of a sprinter-type stroke, so not me, which kind of makes me happy."
The family is now looking for coaches in Phoenix, where they live, in case Beckett decides to pursue the sport.
Phelps is being careful not to push his son. He said he wants Beckett to make his own choices.
"If he wants to be a swimmer, I will support it," Phelps said. "I will never push him into it. I want him to become his own person. I just hope he has fun."
But Phelps did give his son a clear-eyed picture of what elite swimming demands.
"I was like, 'Dude, if you want to train hard and literally grind, this is the sport,'" he said.
Phelps started swimming at age 7 in Baltimore, initially afraid to put his face in the water. He joined a club team partly to follow his older sisters and partly because his mother needed an outlet for his energy. He made his first Olympic team at 15 and competed in Sydney in 2000. He sees some of his own traits in Beckett.
"He has a hard time turning the switch off, so when he gets angry, he gets angry," Phelps said. "That was the same way I was, so stare at that black line and scream as loud as you possibly can."
Beckett took the racing seriously over the two days he attended. Whether he follows his father into the water remains to be seen.
