Greatest Michael Phelps quotes, a complete collection

In the following article, we will review the complete collection of the greatest Michael Phelps quotes, including his comments on life and swimming.

Michael Phelps, widely known as Flying Fish, is the most decorated Olympian of all time. With a total of 28 medals, an American former competitive swimmer holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals in individual events, Olympic gold medals, and Olympic medals in individual events. At the 2008 Beijing Games, the swimmer won eight gold medals, breaking Mark Spitz, fellow American swimmer's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games.

He also achieved eight medals of any color at a single Game by winning six gold and two bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Eight years later, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was held in London, the swimmer won four gold and two silver medals and won five gold medals and one silver at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics. Due to his achievements in four Olympics in a row, Michael Phelps is the most successful athlete of the Olympic Games.

In major international long course competitions, Mr. Swimming has won 82 medals, of which 65 were gold, 14 silver, and three bronze. Phelps won the World Swimmer of the Year Award eight times due to his international titles and record-breaking performances. The legend also won the American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven times and the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award. Since Michael Phelps the most successful Olympian of all time, he is a role model for youngsters worldwide. Therefore, his words and behaviors have an incredible impact on sports lovers. In the following article, we will review the greatest Michael Phelps quotes.

A complete collection of Michael Phelps greatest quotes

Time to take a look at the complete collection of Michael Phelps quotes, including his most famous Inspirational quotes.

Michael Phelps famous quotes on his personal life

Born in 1985, Michael Phelps was born to Fred (father), a talented amateur sportsman, and Debbie (mother), a teacher. At pre-school, Michael's teacher told his parents that little Phelps had concentrating problems. Much later, at the primary school, Michael Phelps was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Fred and Debbie were arguing, and Michael wouldn’t look people in the eye and was easily stressed. Finally, his parents divorced, and his mum was looking for an activity for her over-energetic child. At first, his sister was training swimming; however, Michael did not like swimming. So it is interesting to review Michael Phelps famous quotes on his childhood.

On his childhood

"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."

"You would think that on the first day I hit the water I just sort of turned into a dolphin and never wanted to leave the pool. No way. I hated it. We’re talking screaming, kicking, fit-throwing, goggle-tossing hate."

"[…] once I figured out how to swim, I felt so free. It was like I had this new toy that my sisters enjoyed all this time. I went to the pool every day and it usually took a while to get me to leave. I could go fast in the pool, it turned out, in part because being in the pool slowed down my mind. In the water, I felt, for the first time, in control."

“I simply couldn’t sit still, because it was difficult for me to focus on one thing at a time."

"Bob and I didn’t seem like a good match at all. I was the goofball; he was the taskmaster. Bob was very frank about my talents, my attitude, my inconsistent focus, and my dueling moments of indifference and determination. He also said that I had a realistic opportunity other kids didn’t have."

On his wife & children

"My wife has been the biggest and most influential person. She has been there for me through some of my struggles. Being together during this quarantine, with so many unknowns for everybody, it’s been some more difficult times, and my wife and I have probably pressed each other’s buttons, but not on purpose."

"We have been fortunate enough to grow and learn together, and that is something I am forever grateful for. I was actually afraid as hell of going through this quarantine process and some of our conversations that have come up, and of becoming vulnerable, but that’s part of growing up and learning."

"I think the journey with her is something I can look back on and be proud of how I’ve enjoyed this experience with her."

On his struggling with mental health

"I still go through times that are very challenging. I do break down and maybe have a bad day, where I’m not in a good mental state. I understand that. It’s who I am. I guess that will always be something that’s a part of me."

Michael Phelps Motivational Quotes

Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time, started the Michael Phelps Foundation after the 2008 Summer Olympics. His foundation focuses on promoting healthier lifestyles and growing the sport of swimming. Following the 2012 Olympics, Phelps decided to retire, but in April 2014, he made a comeback. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he was appointed as the flag bearer of the United States. So such a great athlete behavior and quotes motivated youngsters all around the world. Ready to review some of Michael Phelps motivational quotes? Let's check them out.

"I think to be - for me to be an American is - you know, it's one of the greatest things in the world for - you know, for me just because I've been able to grow up with everything. The freedom. You know, in my eyes this is the greatest country in the world."

"I think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it's kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history."

"And, you know, being able to wear the stars and stripes, when you step up on one of the blocks or, you know, when you step off of an airplane or when you hear the national anthem play, you know, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world because you know that there are people at home who are supporting you and watching you."

"I believe in God; I'm not saying I'm highly religious."

"For the millionth time, I'm retired. I keep saying it, and people keep answering, 'Well, maybe he doesn't mean it this time.' But I do."

"I usually try to eat lot of calories. With so many events, it is important to sustain a high level of energy through the entire meet. I usually eat two hours before a meet."

"I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along."

"For so long, I looked at myself as literally a kid who was talented who would go up and down the pool. That's it. Nothing else. Very few people knew who I really was."

"I think greatness is a bunch of small things done well. That is really all it is. If you look at any of the greats in history, in sports or whatever, we basically all do it the same way. There is no real rocket science behind it. It is hard work, dedication, not giving up and pushing through. I do think there are healthier ways and smarter ways to do it, and people who see this film or people who are going through these things now, hopefully they can see that there is a healthier way to do it than what we’ve done in the past."

"When you feel overwhelming emotions you just have to take a second to realize what they are."

Michael Phelps Inspirational Quotes

Having won 28 medals, the American swimmer has trained and competed in the swimming pool for the vast majority of his life. At 15 years old, Phelps made his Olympic debut, spending more than a decade mastering the sport through hard work and determination. This collection of Michael Phelps inspirational quotes will help you to learn from his path to greatness.

"It’s difficult to start a journey at such a young age when you miss so much of your developmental stages. I was 15 and thrown into competing in a world where I was competing with 30-year-old men and expected not to be a 15-year-old kid, but a grownup. At some point I just got numb by it all. You train yourself to not pay attention to how you feel, and before too long you are blindsided by it all. And if you do show emotions, you are showing your competitors weakness."

"I could not show that part of myself until the last two years of my career when I got to the point where I really didn’t care what people thought about me. It was at that point where I opened up and decided to talk about the struggles I had been going through."

"Leading up to that point I was trying to call out for help, and I did not really know how to do that at that time. That was the bottom of my bottom. I was just basically on an elevator headed straight down."

"Leading up to that rock bottom moment I didn’t have a single person, because I was pushing everybody away and at that point it was the people who cared about me the most that I was pushing away. That would be a handful of friends and family."

"I was trying to escape and numb myself, and I was trying to get away from everybody. I think some of the things I did were really my cries for help, and they were looked past. But again, I really didn’t know how to ask for help, and I didn’t want to be rejected if somebody couldn’t or wouldn’t help me."

"After discovering that a lot of my struggles were based on my childhood and based on my parents splitting when I was very young not really growing up with my dad, I was able to try to tackle that part of things. I still speak with [my dad] from time to time, but that was a non-existent relationship for so long. We do speak now, but it’s on my terms. Once I dealt with all of that and I got through that, it just kind of got easier."

"I don’t know that I have a relationship with fame. For the majority of my career I would say I didn’t really think about it because I was just focused on swimming. Everything else just came along with it."

"At this point, my wife and I live our lives how we want and don’t really let anything affect that. We are laid back, relaxed people. We don’t go out a lot. We are homebodies, in general, so the quarantine has almost helped us in that respect. In some odd way, our relationship has benefited even more from it."

"When I was swimming or when I retired in 2016, I felt I did everything that I could, and I did what I was meant to do in this sport. For the longest time I saw myself as strictly a swimmer, and just this kid who went up and down staring at a black line [in a swimming pool] and not a human being. That’s that feeling of trading happiness for greatness you are referring to. I didn’t like who I saw in the mirror when I was like that."

Best Michael Phelps quotes

From his scariest days to quarantine, here are some of the best Michael Phelps quotes.

On his scariest days

"My scariest days are dark. My scary moments, in general, feel like I can’t do anything right. It feels like the whole world is out to get me. On those days it’s almost better for me to fall asleep and wake up tomorrow."

"That’s how I feel when I have days like that. I know I need to get into the swimming pool. I know I need to get into the gym even more, just because that’s my calming place. Swimming is therapeutic for me and working out is something I do every day because it’s all I know and it’s the only thing I’ve done consistently for 20 years."

On quarantine

"Quarantine has also forced me to learn and to grow. I almost feel like that is what this is all about. Whether it’s the work that my wife and I have done, or work on myself, I’ve broken through some barriers. It’s almost been good for me to have this time, not to, like, sit in my own shit, but to deal with myself. I feel like everything in life happens for a reason."

"It was scary in the beginning, but if we can all take a step back and look at the beginning of the quarantine process, I bet we can all see how much we’ve learned and grown through the process without even realizing it. It’s kind of crazy that I have worked within hundredths of a second as a competitive swimmer my entire life, and now I’m trying to slow life down."

Michael Phelps quotes on mental health

"I hope people take our mental health just as seriously as our physical health and athletic ability. If [the powers that be] care so much about our physical well-being, then our mental well-being should be a part of that equation."

"If our mental well-being isn’t there, then our physical well-being won’t be anywhere close to our potential. They both go hand-in-hand. Right now, the mental health resources and support is not there, and it has never been there. I guess if we were not performing, then we don’t get the help we need."

On the next chapter of his life

"do think this next chapter of my life is going to be way bigger than what I have ever done before. I think bringing awareness to the mental health side of things could potentially be bigger than my swimming ever was. I don’t think that is the whole picture, and I don’t know what the rest of the picture looks like yet."

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