Lots of people think that Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time. He won six gold medals in Athens and an amazing eight gold medals in the last Olympics in Beijing. Do you think he's the best? Read this fact file and find out.

Fact file: Michael Phelps
Sport: Swimming
Born: 30 June 1985
Country: US
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 91 kg
Nickname: The Baltimore Bullet
Athens Olympics: Six gold medals
Beijing Olympics: Eight gold medals

'This guy (is) the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time.' Mark Spitz.

You must have heard of Michael Phelps - almost anyone who has ever watched an international swimming event in the last few years has heard of Michael Phelps. He is the most famous swimmer in the world. He is the only Olympian to win eight golds in one Olympic Games - a gold for every single event. He's a legend. He has broken almost every record and has won every gold medal - so why is he going to London in 2012? What more can he possibly want?

Michael began swimming when he was seven. He was a hyper-active child. He couldn't sit still and he couldn't keep quiet. His teachers said he couldn't focus on anything. They were wrong. He focused on swimming and he swam like a fish. He held the national record for his age when he was ten and he swam in the 2000 Olympics when he was fifteen. He was the youngest male Olympian since 1932! Then, still aged fifteen, he became the youngest man to break a world record. Since then, he has broken one record after another.

He says:'Records are made to be broken... Anybody can do anything they set their minds to.'

Maybe not anybody. Michael Phelps has the perfect body for a swimmer. He is very tall and thin, so he cuts through the water like a knife. He has very long arms so he can make very powerful strokes. And he has very large feet which act like flippers.

He also likes pasta and pizza and eats about 12,000 calories each day. That's enough for five normal men!

So why is he going to London? Because he wants to race his old rival, Australia's swimming legend Ian Thorpe - and he's likely to get the chance in 2012.

'To have him back is something that I've wanted to see for years... It would be amazing. He's been out for seven years. He hasn't swum in a major competition since the 2004 Olympics, so adding him is going to make it a lot more interesting. '

It certainly is! So sit back, turn on the TV and get ready for the battle of the giants!

小編：邁克爾·菲爾普斯，14個奧運(yùn)冠軍得主，罕見的游泳奇才。在2008年北京奧運(yùn)會上他因破紀(jì)錄的獨(dú)攬八枚金牌而震驚世界。擁有著游泳運(yùn)動員的完美身體：又高又瘦，有力的長手臂。訓(xùn)練時，他一天要吃掉12,000大卡的食物！可見運(yùn)動量之大！

今年，菲爾普斯的老對頭——澳洲名將伊恩·索普很可能復(fù)出參加倫敦奧運(yùn)會。屆時，伊恩·索普與菲爾普斯的泳池大戰(zhàn)一定會精彩異常！