The Future For Michael Phelps?

There are many people who question what the future may hold for not only Michael Phelps, but all Olympic athletes. Understandably so. They dedicate the prime years of their lives to training and sacrifice not only their social lives, but more importantly a college education. These steps are often necessary to compete at the highest level in the world.

In Phelp’s case, the man is only twenty-three years old and after watching the success of US swimmer Jason Lezak (age 32), I believe that Phelps is not going to be leaving the swimming world for at least another eight years. But the question still remains: what will Michael Phelps do with his life once his swimming career is over? Considering swimming only gets international recognition during the olympics, how will his fame carry on through the next four years? And what will become of Phelps after he retires? Ryan Parker explores some of these topics in this comical ballad:

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The video is admittedly a bit outlandish, but it does bring up a significant question. Now that Phelps has achieved all his goals, how will he move forward in life while living in the shadow of the legacy he has already built in Beijing? Sure he has a handful of Olympic medals left in the tank but nothing can match his performance in Beijing, and his youthful swimming ability is not eternal. He has built his entire life around swimming and without a college degree, has Phelps limited himself to a singular passion?

Although he studied Sports Management and Sports Marketing between 2004-08 at the University of Michigan, there is no mention anywhere of him graduating. A more appropriate interpretation of his studies at Michigan probably includes a “major” in Swimming, with a minor in breakfast lunch and dinner. He never even competed with the Michigan swim team because of his endorsement deal with Speedo, which made him an ineligible NCAA athlete. Phelps was most likely enrolled in just enough classes to allow himself to train with Michigan coach, Bob Bowman, but Bob’s swimming expertise cannot prepare Phelps for the world outside of the pool.

One can only assume that staring at a black line all day while training in the pool at Michigan has not been very good for the development of Phelp’s brain. His trademark response these past Olympic games was: “I’m speechless.” Most likely because he lacks a college degree and the benefits of a public speaking class. I know that he is receiving over 5 million dollars a year in endorsement deals, but is he just going to simply lay on his couch and cuddle with his bulldog for the rest of his life? Maybe he should start filling out that application for Sea World.