Phelps happy to be back in the pool

Michael Phelps woke up four Sundays ago and decided he wanted to keep swimming He still had the desire although he said 2012 will be his last Olympics and all the scrutiny over the photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe hadnt taken away his motivation Actually Ive been talking to some other athletes about it too Phelps said at the US Olympic Training Center yesterday Theres some athletes who have had problems and Ive been able to sort of get their side on it and how theyve handled itIts all really about whats in your heart and thats why Im back in the pool said Phelps who sat next to coach Bob Bowman If it wasnt in my heart I wouldnt be here I wouldnt be out here I wouldnt be training Who knows what Id be doing But I wouldnt be doing this right now Phelps and several other Americans are in the middle of a twoweek training camp for this summers US and world championships Theyre in the pool twice a day at 7 am and 5 pm and spent part of one day training with US Navy SEALs After winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics Phelps had by far the most time off from competition hes ever had The photo of Phelps and the marijuana pipe surfaced in early February He was suspended for three months by USA Swimming and has lost two major sponsors I did make a mistake and it was stupid and it shows how things can turn Phelps said Ive been able to sort of learn from all the mistakes Ive really ever made and thats what Im doing from this and thats what I continue to plan on doing It seems that really whenever Im out of the water thats when something happens said Phelps who was arrested for drunk driving in 2004 a couple of months after winning six gold and two bronze medals in Athens Swimming has been such a big part of my life growing up and Ive always been in this same routine and the same regime and thats how my life has really been sort of constructed you could say At that point it was difficult It was hard I knew all along that I needed to have some sort of structure back to my life and at that point whether it was getting back in the pool or whether it was doing something else My comfort is obviously being back in the pool There still was a passion and Im just happy to be back in the pool and being able to train again Phelps said hes had plenty of time in recent months to think about his future He made up his mind four weeks ago It was like night and day he said I went to bed not even thinking about anything I was watching TV then went to bed then literally woke up It was overnight like something just clicked It was just a feeling The next day I called Bob my mom my sisters and I said Are you guys ready And they all said Were behind you Phelps said Phelps plans to return to competition from May 1417 at the Charlotte UltraSwim Hell swim in the Santa Clara International Grand Prix in June participate in an altitude camp then swim in a meet in Montreal before the US championships He said hes added 15 pounds seven kilograms since Beijing and believes itll probably be the beginning of next year before hes back in top shape Phelps said his goal this summer is do better than four years ago at the world championships when he failed to reach the finals of an event for the first time ever I know the first few months are going to be absolutely painful Phelps said They have been There have been times where Ive gotten out of bed and had to take extra long to get out of bed just because Im sore Its because Ive never had a break like this I want to get back up and race Bowman said hes making technical changes in some of Phelps strokesu00a0