On Tuesday, November 10, swimmer Michael Phelps opened up about attending rehab after his second DUI arrest.
“It’s probably the most afraid I’ve ever felt in my life,” the Olympian told and explained to Sports Illustrated that he needed to turn off his phone immediately and go to his room after seeing visitors.
On September 2014, he was arrested again for driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding charges in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was his second arrest for the same reason in 10 years, which basically led him to check-in to a rehab facility for treatment. Prior to checking in, however, he wasn't coping very well.
The 30-year-old swimmer shared his sentiments on the 2008 Olympics. “Mentally, I was over. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I forced myself to do something that I really didn’t want to do anymore. I was in a really dark place, not wanting to be alive anymore. I look back now, I lived in a bubble for a long time. I wound up uncovering a lot of things about myself. . . I saw myself as the athlete that I was, but not as a human being.”
Phelps, who has won 18 golds and 22 medals overall at the last three Olympics, retired from swimming after the 2012 London Games, saying he had no goals left to accomplish and didn’t want to still be competing into his 30s.
That decision lasted barely a year. By the following summer, he was itching to race again.
As a result, USA Swimming suspended him from all competitions for six months and stated that he would not be chosen to represent the United States at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in August.
Phelps’s greatest gift now sits atop his shoulders. He no longer performs to fulfill historical responsibility but for his own rediscovered joy.
Rio is nine months away and expectations will come knocking soon, but now he is prepared. “I’m back to being the little kid who once said anything is possible,” says Phelps as he gazes across an Arizona street in the midday sun.
“You’re going to see a different me than you saw in any of the other Olympics.”
Phelps was engaged to beauty queen Nicole Johnson.
