Sports Stars: Michael Phelps | Swimmer Profile With New Photographs

Full Name: Michael Fred Phelps

Birth date: 06-30-85

Birthplace: Baltimore, MD

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 195 lbs.

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Famous as : Professional swimmer

Claim to fame : Won 6 golds at the 2004 Olympic Games, Athens

Michael Phelps was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was born to Fred and Debbie Phelps and was the youngest in his siblings. Michael Phelps and his sisters spent their childhood years in the town of Rodgers Forge. His father "Fred" was an all-round sportsman and a state trooper, his mother was a principal of a middle-school. When Phelps's parents separated, he and his siblings decided to live with their mother, with whom Michael was very close.

Michael Phelps started swimming when his two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary joined up with a local swim team. Whitney tested out for the U.S. Olympic team in 1996, when she was 16, but accidents derailed her profession. At age 7, Michael was still a little afraid to get his head under water, so his trainers granted him to flow around on his back. Not amazingly, the first action he perfected was the backstroke.

Michael Phelps has broken a number of world records in his game. Even his record splitting has broken new records: he was the 1st swimmer ever to destroy two world records in specific events while in a single day, and was the first to swim five new quickest times at a world championship meet. Phelps, whose ideal heart stroke is the butterfly, is said to have got the best build for aggressive swimming. He appears more than six-foot four inches in height, and his wingspan, the way it is called, is even extended: from finger to finger he measures six-foot seven inches throughout. These features have given him an advantage in the hugely competing sport, but those who know him say that it is his internal drive, concentrate on obtaining goals, and likeable character that make him a champion.