Since his last Olympic appearance in 2016, many people haven’t heard a lot about Michael Phelps, one of the most successful US swimmers of all time. Some people started wondering what happened to him, and what is he doing now. Some people were even wondering whether he was still alive.
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What is he up to?
In case you’ve been wondering, we have good news for you.
Michael Phelps is thriving! He is no longer competing professionally, he has switched to another field where he is achieving great results. This area is nothing else but helping children in need through his own foundation.
In this article, we will update you about his life and career today in 2022.
Career
Michael Phelps is now a successful business owner and entrepreneur. What a change! However, his new business is still closely related to sports. In fact, he started his own brand that focuses mainly on swimwear! He found a way to combine his previous knowledge with his new business.
In one of the interviews, he said that the idea of starting a swimwear brand was born during his swimming career. He felt that swimwear options for professional swimmers were limited and that it wasn’t enough choice.
One of his dreams was to start his own brand and provide more options for professional swimmers like himself. That’s why as soon as he had more time he decided to partner with his coach and they created a swimwear brand.
Their first products appeared in 2015 and everyone loved them! However, Phelps needed to take a break from business due to some personal issues.
Their second collection was launched in 2020 and the brand has been flourishing ever since! Today, it’s one of the most popular and high-quality swimwear brands on the market.
Philanthropy
Phelps is famous for being a great philanthropist! He started his own foundation in 2008, using the Olympic bonus to help children in need. After taking a break from his sports career, he was able to focus more on this aspect of his life. His coworkers say that he is very involved and spends a lot of his free time working at the foundation.
The foundation focuses on three different areas; promoting a healthy lifestyle, helping children in need, and water safety. Those are the areas Phelps is very passionate about and he has been speaking about these topics long before starting his own foundation.
As a professional swimmer, Michael Phelps is not only promoting a healthy and active lifestyle but he is also involved in mental health awareness. In fact, in one of his interviews, Phelps revealed that he had problems with depression and anxiety.
He wanted to share that with the world, in order to spread awareness and fight mental health stigma. He wanted to show that those issues could affect anyone, no matter how successful and famous you may be. That’s why he decided to step up and talk about it openly.
After that, he even joined one organization that raises awareness about mental health issues and has a goal to help people get diagnosed at an early stage.
Personal life
When it comes to his personal life, Phelps is happily married to his partner Nicole, who is a professional model, and former Miss California.
They live with their three kids and two dogs. Phelps said that one of the reasons for his break was the fact that he wanted to spend more quality time with his family and that he wanted to be involved in his kids’ life and see them growing.
The family can often be seen in nature, or playing sports, even with the youngest ones. When asked whether he would like his kids to be in professional sports, he replayed that he will be happy with their choice as long as they are happy and that he and his wife won’t be forcing any career choice on them.
As you can see, just because someone doesn’t share every detail of their private life on social media, it doesn’t mean they are not thriving.
Michael Phelps completely changed his life and discovered some new passions in the process – from philanthropy to mental health awareness. He is proof that it’s never too late to start over, discover new passions, and change your career if you feel like it!