Michael Phelps Jr.

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Biography

Michael Phelps Jr. is the descendant of Palatine migrants.

Michael was a Summer Olympics athlete

Michael Phelps, a competitive swimmer, is the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Born 30 June 1985, in Baltimore, Maryland. He is their youngest of three children. His father was a Maryland state trooper and his mom worked as a middle school principal. Michael is of German, English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish descent.

Michael started swimming at the age of 7, and by 10 years of age he held the national record in his age group for the 100-meter butterfly.

With 28 of them, Michael holds the record for Olympic medals. He also holds all time records for Olympic golds He's the long course world record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley. Michael's won 83 medals in major competitions, totaling 66 gold, 14 silver, and 3 bronze in the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (19, over double the second highest record holders), Olympic gold medals in individual events (11), and Olympic medals in individual events for a male (13). In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps took the record away from fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz (7) for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. Five of those victories were in individual events, tying the single Games record. In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four golds and two silver medals, making him the most successful athlete of the Games for the third Olympics in a row. There are more medal events in swimming and athletics (track and field) than any other Olympic sports.

Phelps is the long course world record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley as well as the former long course world record holder in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. He has won a total of 77 medals in major international long-course competition, totalling 62 gold, 13 silver, and 3 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps's international titles and record-breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award seven times and American Swimmer of the Year Award nine times as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.

After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael Phelps Foundation, which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. He continued to work with his foundation after the 2012 Olympics, which he had said would be his last. In April 2014, Phelps came out of retirement, and he qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his fifth Olympics. Phelps was chosen to be the flag bearer of the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.

Sources

• http://www.recordclick.com/genealogy-researcher-finds-swimmer-michael-phelps-ancestors-pooled-west-virginia/ - This article published by genealogist Joan Shurtliff on Nov 13, 2014 details information on Michael Phelps' parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Previously this information was unavailable and his Phelps ancestry had been unclear. This article doesn't follow the complete path of Michael's paternal ancestry back to his immigrant ancestor during the Great Migration.

• See Also:

• Wikipedia:Michael_Phelps
• Wikidata: Item Q39562, en:Wikipedia