Michael Phelps isn't freestyling his constructive criticism to Team USA's swimmers. The Olympian—who won 28 medals during his Olympic career, including 23 gold—recently got candid with his thoughts on how the men on Team USA swam at the 2024 Olympics . "For me as a whole," he told USA Today Aug.
5 , "I was pretty disappointed to see the U.S. swimming results.
" The 39-year-old did note that the team had "a few standout swims," pointing out Bobby Finke 's performance in the 1500-meter freestyle where he not only won gold, but set a new world record. "He was prepared," Michael added. "Hopefully the other athletes are more prepared going into '28.
" As he explained, that preparedness is needed, especially for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, as more and more countries are swimming on par with Team USA. "One of the things that I've always said over the last couple of years is the rest of the world is catching up," he continued. "I think a lot of the things that we've done as a country for so long, the other people are catching up.
They're doing the same thing. Hopefully we're able to make that transition leading into 2028." And Michael—who shares children Boomer , 8, Beckett , 6, Maverick , 4, and Nico , 6 months, with wife Nicole Phelps —is hopeful that a new swimmer will come along and try to break his Olympic records.
"Everyone thought what I was trying to do was impossible," he explained. "And if somebody is trying to do it now, you guys will all say it's impossible." .