Phelps Confirms Plan to Compete at 2016 Olympics in Rio

Michael Phelps is hoping to make a splash at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he confirmed this week.

“...like it’s a big surprise,” Phelps said, flashing a smile during a press conference in Mesa, Ariz.

The Rodgers Forge native is in Arizona at the Arena Pro Swim Series, where he will be competing April 16 to 18 for the first time since USA Swimming slapped him with a six-month suspension following a drunk driving charge last fall.

After his Sept. 30 arrest, Phelps spent 45 days in rehab and was sentenced to one year in jail, with all of it suspended.

In the months since his DUI, he says he has improved in “every which way,” including in the water.

“I was fat and out of shape last year,” Phelps said. He used air quotes to explain that his “training” was not up to snuff.

The most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps retired in 2012 then began competing again last summer.

“I truly am in a better place and a better state of mind,” Phelps said Wednesday, “in every which way.”

He compared his mentality and regimen to how he was preparing for the Olympics in 2008, when he brought home eight gold medals from Beijing.

“The training has been going better than it has been for a long time,” Phelps said. “I actually come to every workout.”

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His longtime coach, Bob Bowman, agreed that Phelps is now on different footing.

“We’re happy to be in a place where he’s not only swimming well but living well...” Bowman said. “We have a good plan in place to get us ready for next summer, and we’re looking forward to going to the nationals and seeing how that shakes out as well.”

If Phelps participates in the 2016 Olympics, he would be setting a record as the first male swimmer to make the U.S. Olympic team five times, according to NBC Sports.

Phelps said that he and fiancée Nicole Johnson have a few dates in mind for their wedding but will not decide until “after Rio.”

Screenshot of April 15 press conference from USA Swimming/YouTube.

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