Phelps prepares for comeback race
Olympic superstar keeps an eye on Rio Olympics and targets Arizona meet after completing suspension for drink driving
Olympic superstar Michael Phelps will make his return to competitive swimming at the Arena Pro Swim Series, formerly the Mesa Grand Prix, in April, his coach confirmed on Friday.
Phelps is currently serving a sixmonth suspension imposed by USA Swimming for drunk driving, but will be eligible to return to competition on April 7, with the Arizona meet from April 15-18.
And the record-setting Olympian’s longtime coach Bob Bowman confirmed the plan as Phelps was making an appearance for his sponsors in Germany.
The swimmer from Baltimore said he was really enjoying being back in the pool again.
“I’ve enjoyed lately more than I really ever have being back in the water,” said Phelps. “I haven’t had that kind of excitement that I had in a long time. It’s just me feeling I guess like me again. I’m trying to build back a base again.”
The 29-year-old said he was back in form and had recovered from a “slight pelvic discomfort”.
“I’m trying to rebuild basic physical form,” explained Phelps, because “honestly I didn’t really have a base between 2009 and 2012, I lived on what I had built in previous years.”
Phelps retired after the 2012 London Olympics with a record 22 Olympic medals — including 18 gold — but launched a comeback early last year, at the same Arizona meet.
Phelps said in Munich that he was taking a “wait and see” approach to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Phelps hasn’t competed since August, when he won three gold medals at Pan-Pacific Championships, but was subsequently dropped from the US team for the world championships.
Meanwhile, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh met with the group No Boston Olympics on Friday night to discuss its concerns about bringing the 2024 Summer Games to the city.
Chris Dempsey, one of the group’s founders, said that the meeting was productive and friendly.
“We feel as if we have a lot of common ground with the mayor,” Dempsey said after the meeting that lasted more than an hour. “Things like protecting taxpayers, making sure the bid is something that works for the city and for neighborhoods, even improving the process and making it more transparent.”
The meeting came one day after the first of nine scheduled sessions to allow residents to have their say. Several hundred people crowded into a room at Suffolk Law School near the Boston Common on Thursday night, with most of them expressing doubts about the benefits of hosting an Olympics.
The mayor repeated his promise that no taxpayer money would go to the operation of the games. But he made the case that being an Olympic city would give Boston a boost in tourism and international stature. Dempsey said the mayor was receptive to opponents’ concerns.
A spokeswoman for the mayor didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. “It was clear to us today that he was sympathetic to our perspective,” Dempsey said.
The USOC selected Boston as the American bid city last month over bids from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC. Rome is the only other announced bidder, but Boston could face competition from bids from France, Hungary, South Africa, Qatar and Azerbaijan for the right to host the 2024 Games.
The IOC will make its selection in 2017.