告别泳池,迈克尔·菲尔普斯辉煌还会继续吗?

The day after he swam his last race as a competitive swimmer at the London Olympics， Michael Phelps got up early.

It was force of habit. He didn’t have a race that day， or even a scheduled training session with his coach of 16 years， Bob Bowman. For two decades， the 27-year-old Baltimorean was up at dawn for his first of two daily swims， clicking off the millions of laps of training that earned him the title of nothing less than the greatest Olympian of all time. With an unprecedented 22 Olympic medals， 18 of them gold， he is now the most decorated Olympian ever.

伦敦奥运会上，游完了最后一场以游泳参赛选手的身份参加的比赛后，第二天，菲尔普斯一早就起床了。

这是习惯使然。他那天没有比赛，甚至连指导了他16年的教练鲍伯・鲍曼也没有给他安排任何训练。20年来，这名来自巴尔的摩的27岁小伙子每天天刚亮就起床，开始每天两次的游泳训练，经历了无数圈的训练让他获得“史上最伟大的奥运选手”的封号。他以史无前例的22枚奥运奖牌，其中18枚金牌的成绩，成为奥运史上获得最多荣耀的选手。

“There will be no more staring at the black line （at the bottom of the pool） for four hours every day，” he said that morning in London. “This is the first day of my retirement. The first day of my new life.” And just what will he do with the rest of his life？ Travel and golf， he said.

But who is he kidding？ The pool and Phelps will be forever linked， forged in an unbreakable bond as interlocked as the five Olympic rings. Nor does he want to. While always cagey about disclosing his personal goals during his competitive career， Phelps has said that one legacy he hopes to leave behind is a sport that is stronger， bigger and higher profile than when he entered it.

那天早上在伦敦，他说：“以后不用再每天花四个小时盯着那些黑线（在游泳池底部）了。今天是我退役的第一天，也是我展开新生活的第一天。”他会怎么安排以后的人生？旅游和高尔夫，这是他给出的回答。

他在开玩笑吧？泳池和菲尔普斯之间的联系，如同奥运五环环环相扣、牢不可破，他也不打算离开。虽然菲尔普斯在比赛生涯中一直不愿透露个人目标，但他说过，如果在离开时有什么想留下的话，他希望是，到那时游泳运动比他进来时知名度更高、规模更大、规格更高。

“I want to grow the sport of swimming，” is his refrain. His agent， Peter Carlisle， says that desire was born early， at his first meeting with the then-15 year old Phelps， who was shopping for representation. He said， he wanted to see swimming on SportsCenter.

Fast forward a decade， and swimming does pop up on SportsCenter. There’s no question that Phelps and his journey were a big part of that. For now， he says Phelps is focusing on expanding his swim schools， which are part of the Michael Phelps Foundation， begun in 2008 with the $1 million bonus check he received for breaking Spitz’s record. Phelps’ IM Program， which is taught at the schools， begins with water safety for children who have never been in a pool and extends to stroke training. So far， it’s part of 28 Boys and Girls Clubs in the US and Phelps hopes to expand the program to all 200 of the Clubs with a pool and provide transportation for youngsters without access to pools so they can participate as well. Growing the sport will mean nurturing its grass roots， and not simply lending his presence when it’s convenient， a commitment that Phelps seems to have already made.

“I want to take swimming to a new level，” he said before leaving London. “It hasn’t reached the peak I want it to reach. That’s tough for swimming in the US because we have so many sports， so many professional sports in the spotlight. Hopefully we can catch up and be on the same level. I’ve been able to see the sport change so much in the last four years， it’s shocking.”

而他也多次提到：“我想更好地发展游泳运动。”彼得・卡莱尔是他的经纪人，他透露，这个愿望早在他和菲尔普斯初次见面时就萌发了，当时年仅15岁的菲尔普斯正在找一名人。他说，他想在《世界体育中心》节目上看到游泳。

一晃十年过去了，游泳项目真的在《世界体育中心》上出现了。毋庸置疑，菲尔普斯和他的经历起到了很大的推动作用。现在，卡莱尔说，菲尔普斯把重点放在发展游泳学校。这些学校是“菲尔普斯基金会”的一部分。在2008年，他打破施皮茨保持的记录，获得100万美元奖金的支票，他用这笔钱成立了游泳学校。菲尔普斯IM项目，在学校也会建立，初衷是针对没下过泳池的孩子的水上安全，并提供游泳姿势训练。目前为止，这个项目成为全美28个“男生女生俱乐部”的一部分，菲尔普斯希望能把这个项目覆盖到全部200所俱乐部。他的做法是建一个泳池，并为平日享受不到泳池的小孩提供接送服务，让他们也可以参与其中。想发展这项运动，就要栽培苗子，但这不是方便的时候就走走过场这么简单，如此看来，菲尔普斯似乎已经作出了承诺。

“我要把游泳运动提升到一个新的水平。”他在离开伦敦前说道：“现在还没到达我所希望的高度。在美国，游泳项目的处境很艰难。因为我们有这么多体育项目，这么多公众关注的职业体育项目。我希望我们能追赶上，达到同样的水准。我已经看到这项运动在过去4年发生了很大的变化，这很令人震惊。”