Everyone knows the name. Everyone is aware of the greatness. However, not everyone was always interested in the sport. Six Olympics's ago, swimming was no longer on the radar of many viewers. It was a sport no one watched because people felt gymnastics, beach volleyball, and soccer were much more entertaining. Viewing a person doing flips on a 4-inch wide beam seemed impossible in comparison to the simple act of swimming, which everyone seems to know how to do. Except, when a 15 year old Michael Phelps stepped foot into the Olympic Arena, people did not know then, but the sport of swimming changed forever.
Michael Phelps was a name that was mocked in school. It was a name that never seemed like much, in comparison to his two nationally ranked swimmer sisters. However, it became a name that changed the way people saw a sport. He was only a tall, lanky, geeky boy when he dove into the pool. One, whom wished to be on the baseball field, but his single mother could not drive him everywhere. When he was 13 he made a promise to Coach Bob Bowman, to which he said he would only practice harder each day.
Thank you Michael Phelps, for showing every person with a learning disability it is not debilitating. Grades were something he was always afraid to show as a child. It wasn't until he was 15 years old that Michael Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD, where he tackled his first Olympics and only Olympics without medals. However 5 Olympics under his belt and Michael Phelps has succeeded in becoming a legend. He is role model to every kid with a dream and a setback.
Thank you for changing the way the world looks at the sport of swimming. Despite Mark Spitz and Ian Thorpe trying to change the sport, the two failed. Before Michael Phelps, swimming was just another sport to skip in the Olympics. However, he made the sport so widely known that now not only swimmers watch it religiously, but also the everyday person. The people who used to make fun of the sport are now on the edge of their seat waiting to see who takes the gold in the pool.
Thank you for never giving up so you could give every swimmer and every kid something to believe in. Growing up as a nerdy kid and a swimmer, I knew I was bound never to be popular. That was okay with me because I had an amazing team and worked hard for my grades. When I was little, swimming was never a popular sport but then my friends began to ask me my strokes and my times. All the hard work I put into the sport and I realized I could do this, and I could make a difference in the world if I became great at this sport that I loved. Michael Phelps made every swimmer feel that way, and made every kid believe that they had a fighting chance to change the world some day.
So Michael Phelps, while you are the greatest Olympic athlete this world has ever seen, and probably will ever see, we thank you. We thank you for never giving up on your dream and teaching kids around the world this important lesson. We thank you for representing our country, our athletes, our swimmers, and our sport. And lastly, we congratulate you on not only becoming the most decorated athlete in all of history, but also becoming the only Olympian to ever participate in five Olympics.
