'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all-time. He's the most decorated Olympian of all time and the gold standard for anyone competing in the pool. But that wasn't always the case. Phelps was once a bright-eyed newcomer to the Olympic scene.
His first race was the 200m Butterfly at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He managed to just eke out a win in that race, narrowly edging the competition. Since then, the swimmer grew exponentially and became one of the best athletes ever.
Here's his first race:
There was reason to believe that Phelps would become a mainstay in the Olympic pools because of his first gold medal win in 2004. Any time someone as young as Phelps, 15-years-old at the time, wins a race against Olympic athletes, it usually means they're destined to be good.
"Good" would have been a nice standard for the American to reach, but he blew those expectations out of the water.
Despite his victory, the swimmer in the video is not the same swimmer who took home 22 more gold medals (28 total) over the course of his illustrious career.
He may have won his first medal there, but looking at that race compared to those in later Olympics shows just how far the beloved swimmer came. To say that he blew everyone's minds with his incredible career would not be an understatement.
Phelps' early career at the Olympics
The swimmer competed in three official events before making it to the Olympics in 2004, which meant he was swimming and winning at the young age of 12.
In that first Olympics, he showed everyone how good he was. He took home six gold medals and two bronzes (one gold was earned by a team that he swam in the heats for) that year.
In 2008, Phelps had perhaps the greatest Olympics of any athlete ever. He took home eight gold medals and set seven world records and an Olympic record.
These are the records he set that year:
- 200m freestyle- 1:42.96 (WR)
- 100m butterfly- 50.58 (OR)
- 200m butterfly- 1:52.03 (WR)
- 200m medley- 1:54.23 (WR)
- 400m medley- 4:03.84 (WR)
- 4x100m freestyle- 3:08.24 (WR)
- 4x200m freestyle- 6:58.56 (WR)
- 4x100m medley- 3:29.34 (WR)
In just his second ever Olympics, he cemented himself as one of the greats. His eight gold medals earned still stand as the most in one Olympics.
He would go on to continue winning in both the 2012 and 2016 editions before retiring officially, though he briefly retired after 2012.
