For 16 years, when sports fans would tune into the Summer Olympics, they'd see none other than Michael Phelps. The all-time great swimmer dove into pools in Sydney, Athens, London and Rio. But now as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are underway (albeit a year late), Americans may wonder what this real-life Aquaman is up to today.
At 36 years old, he's way past what's considered the prime for his sport. In fact, Michael previously retired after the 2012 competition in London, only to make a smashing and impressive comeback four years later, posting some of his fastest relay splits ever.
When speaking to Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on the Today show this week, the swimming legend flirted with the possibility that he might one day return to compete.
"My wife said to Lester [Holt] in [2016], back in Rio, that if I did come back, it would be in L.A.,” he recalled, referring to the Los Angeles Olympic Games, which are set for 2028.
"I’m not coming back now! Don’t get any ideas," he quipped at first, before saying "I don't know" and sharing what might just change his mind.
"I’m completely happy,” the father of sons Boomer, 5, Beckett, 3, and Maverick, 1, said of his current status. "I get into the water from time to time for my own personal mental health. My kids love the water. ... If my boys, at some point, ask when I’m going to or why I’m not competing, we’ll see what the answer is then."
While it sounds like Michael has put away his racing swimsuit for good right now, he hasn't stepped away from the sport entirely.
Where is Michael Phelps now in 2021?
It wouldn't be a Summer Olympics without Michael, and this time he's helping out in the broadcast booth rather than jumping off the blocks. Michael is joining Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines as a primetime NBC correspondent for select swimming races this month. It's the first Summer Olympics he hasn't competed in for 20 years, so he's bringing a wealth of insider knowledge.
"I know he’s going to offer some incredible insight on especially those races that he has won so many gold medals in," Rowdy said of his new co-commentator. And with Michael, that's a lot of races.
At the 2008 Beijing Games alone, he competed in freestyle, butterfly, individual medley and relay events, winning the most gold medals at single Olympics ever with eight first-place finishes.
Michael isn't just sharing his veteran expertise with the TV audience back home. Team U.S.A. swimmers will also get some moral support from the all-time great while he's in Japan.
"To have him here, even though he's not swimming, to have him here and his support is huge," freestyle-specialist and four-time Olympian Allison Schmitt said, according to PEOPLE. "Not only for myself, but for all of Team U.S.A."
When he's not commentating on swim races, Michael spends time with his wife, former Miss California USA Nicole Johnson, and their three sons. The family of five lives in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, with Michael happily enjoying the next stage of his life.
"I’m done swimming ... I have so many other things I want to offer the world," Michael told USA Today in 2018. "I’m not just a swimmer. That’s not my only (identity) anymore."
His résumé now includes mental health advocate, spokesperson and entrepreneur. He developed his own line of swimwear and training gear, undoubtedly honed by his many, many miles swum in the pool. Michael has also partnered up with the therapy app Talkspace and the online resource KidsHealth.org to speak out about mental wellness.
"Mental health is so close to me and who I am, and I try to reach people not as Michael Phelps the superhuman swimmer or superhero, but Michael Phelps who’s human," he told USA Today. "Helping people means so much more to me than winning any medal."
Since the Baltimore native has retired from competing, another Olympic athlete has started inviting many Michael comparisons. At 24-years-old, Caeleb Dressel has already snatched several American records and a world record from Michael, and he even became the first swimmer ever to win eight medals at the World Championships back in 2019.
While Caeleb will certainly make waves at the Tokyo Games, he still hasn't come close to Michael's greatest sporting achievement: a whopping 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold. Let's just say Michael will still go down in history as not only the greatest swimmer of all time, but one of the greatest Olympians ever.
