Michael Phelps

I was reflecting on this past summer olympic games, and I realize how big of a summer it was for swimming. Michael Phelps has single handedly put swimming on the map as one of the bigger sports in the country. As a swimmer, I know that it isn't that big compared to baseball, basketball, or football. But in other countries such as Australia, swimmers are considered celebrities, and are even more recognizable than movie stars. 

To comprehend what Michael Phelps did by winning eight gold medals, you have to look at what he did for the past four years. He dedicated his whole life, he didn't work, he didn't have much of a personal life, to just swimming. Putting in hours and hours in and out of the pool to train his body to just survive the grueling schedule of the olympics is a feat in its own. 

He is simply the greatest swimmer there ever was, and I will even go as far as saying the best athlete ever. Nobody has done what he has done in their respective sport, and I believe it will be a very long time before we see another great like Michael Phelps.