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The Disneyland Report > Disney News > Olympics golden boy has been on the road Disney NewsOlympics golden boy has been on the roadJanny Hu It has been three months since Michael Phelps slept in his own bed, three weeks since he last saw his Baltimore home. A package arrived there from his favorite music artist, Eminem, about seven days ago, and Phelps swears that when he returns, the first thing he will do is tear open the box. Until then, what's inside will remain unknown. America's poster boy from the Athens Olympics has been too busy living the life of a rock star to tend to mail. He's tooling across the country in a customized bus, meeting scores of devoted fans and getting paid to promote his craft. For a 19-year-old swimming prodigy who declared his intention to raise the sport's profile to a new height before the Olympics, this is it. "This is another level right here," Phelps said Wednesday at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Pool in Bayview-Hunters Point, where kids from the 21st Century Academy gathered for autographs and swim lessons. "Before the Olympics, I don't think any of us could walk into a place and have a standing ovation. It's so much fun." The fun comes with a purpose that fits Phelps as well as his skin-tight Speedo suits. The easy-going Phelps is in the final lap of Disney's "Swim with the Stars" tour, swimming's maiden version of the popular ice shows. Fellow Olympic gold medalists Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg are his cohorts, but Phelps is clearly the star of the show. He won a record-tying eight medals in Athens, six of them gold. And although Phelps fell one win short of matching the seven golds Mark Spitz earned in 1972, the chase brought international attention and a $1 million bonus offer from Speedo. That kind of money and prestige is rare for swimming, even during Olympic years, which explains why Phelps' schedule -- designed to maximize the aforementioned -- borders on ludicrous. He flew directly from Athens to Orlando, Fla., where the tour began at Disneyworld on Aug. 31. He hasn't seen his coach in a month, hasn't followed a strict training schedule since the Olympics, and gets his workouts in wherever he can find a pool. The FINA World Championships begin next week in Indianapolis, where Phelps' could swim up to eight races, including relays. He had been waking up at 4 a.m. to practice, but even that has slowed. Phelps developed soreness in his back last week and has had to ease off his training. Along the 12-city tour, the bus has broken down once. The miles are passed with music and cards, mostly with video games such as Madden NFL. Each athlete gets his own bunk space, which has been slowly whittled away as the gifts from each city pile up. It is a welcome invasion. To read the rest of this article, click here. Return to Disney News. |
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