Michael Phelps is an American swimmer who began swimming at age 7. He has won a record 23 gold medals and 28 total medals in the Olympics. Phelps practices daily and holds numerous world records in swimming events like the 200m butterfly. Some of his biggest accomplishments include winning 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, setting 5 world records at the 2003 World Championships, and sweeping 6 individual events at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he became the first American to win 8 medals in a single Olympiad.