{"id":84684,"date":"2025-08-15T12:04:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T12:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/84684\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T12:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T12:04:27","slug":"angry-michael-phelps-has-dire-warning-for-usa-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/84684\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Angry’ Michael Phelps has dire warning for USA swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Decorated United States swimmer Michael Phelps called out USA Swimming yet again, this time going into great detail about his belief the program is declining.<\/a><\/p>\n

Phelps posted a lengthy, five-page statement on Instagram, doubling down on his call for action within the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched too many teammates struggle to compete in a sport they love without the support they need,\u201d Phelps wrote. \u201cI\u2019ve also seen the sport struggle to return its membership numbers to pre-pandemic levels, and I\u2019m done pretending this system works just because it produces medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwimming, to me, was always about more than just medals \u2013 it\u2019s supposed to be an environment that builds champions in and out of the pool. As a Dad to four young boys, it pains me to say that I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019d want my sons to be a part of this sport at a competitive level. Yes, swimming changed my life, but it also caused a lot of heartache, and its current state makes me both sad and angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps began his post by clarifying that he wasn\u2019t calling out the actual swimmers in the organization with his initial critique, but rather leadership outside the pool.<\/p>\n

He pointed out the team\u2019s decline in performance, saying Team USA won just 44% of medals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the lowest mark for the United States since 1988.<\/p>\n

\"GoldGold medallist Michael Phelps of the U.S. (R) and silver medallist and compatriot Ryan Lochte hold their medals during the men\u2019s 200m individual medley victory ceremony during the London 2012 Olympic Games. REUTERS<\/p>\n

And while Phelps referenced money as being a factor in USA Swimming\u2019s decline, he accused the organization of \u201cpoor operational controls and weak leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps didn\u2019t point the finger without offering himself and certain recommendations as solutions. First, he vowed he would be a resource for USA Swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy door is open and there is work to be done,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

He also recommended that USA Swimming hold an independent review of the entire organization. He believes an athletes-first mentality needs to be adopted to support swimmers competing at the highest level. At the same time, offering support to those young swimmers to reach that level is imperative in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\"USA'sUSA\u2019s Michael Phelps celebrates after he won the Men\u2019s 200m Butterfly Final during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Phelps\u2019 initial post was about former Team USA swimmer Ryan Lochte, a teammate of his during his Olympic gold-medal days. Lochte had sent an image where a funeral was being held for USA Swimming, with Phelps asking if the 2025 World Championships would be a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for the organization.<\/p>\n

Team USA tallied nine gold medals at the World Championships, which led all countries involved in the pool. They had 29 total medals, which was also first among participating nations.<\/p>\n

Phelps is one of the best Olympians, let alone swimmers, of all time. He collected 23 gold medals over his illustrious career, which remains an Olympic record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Decorated United States swimmer Michael Phelps called out USA Swimming yet again, this time going into great detail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[38904,1082,99,58725,42038],"class_list":{"0":"post-84684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-michael-phelps","9":"tag-olympics","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-summer-olympics","12":"tag-swimming"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}