Rowdy Gaines, Coach Bob Bowman, Cody Miller and others react as Michael Phelps makes appeal to bring change in USA swimming after recent controversy

Michael Phelps has received unprecedented support for raising his voice in favor of change in USA Swimming. The former Olympic champion swimmer has been critical of the administration after a not so impressive performance by Team USA at the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore.

Phelps posted a long thread on his Instagram profile, where he talked about the changes necessary in the USA Swimming administration. He also responded to the backlash he received for his alleged comments against Team USA during the World Championships.

Michael Phelps wrote in the post,

"There have always been cracks in the system but in the last nine years, I've seen those cracks grow. In 2016, I had the honor to be a part of a U.S. swim team in Rio that was arguably the most successful in the sport's history and we won 57% of the medals we had the opportunity to win. Fast forward eight years to Paris, where Team USA won only 44% of the medals they had the opportunity to win in the pool, the lowest percentage the sport had seen since the 1988 Olympics."

Several swimmers and former Olympians supported Phelps in his campaign. Former Paralympian Matt Torres wrote in Phelps' support as he mentioned,

"Thank you for being our voice! From a retired Paralympian who walked away due to organizational issues"

Former Olympic champion Rowdy Gaines openly came out in Phelps' support as he wrote,

"Well said! Thank you for speaking up for our sport!!"

Screengrab of comments in favor of Michael Phelps [Image Source : Michael Phelps' Instagram]

The former swimming champion further added,

"So proud to call you my friend. Love ya bro"

Olympic medalist and Phelps' former teammate Cody Miller dropped a two-word reaction in Phelps' support as he said,

"Well said 👌🏼"

Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman simply sent a red-heart emoji in his support,

"❤️"

Michael Phelps is one of the most successful swimmers of all time. He has 28 Olympic medals and 33 World Championship medals to his credit.

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When Michael Phelps issued a strong statement against the USA Swimming organization

Michael Phelps calls out USA Swimming over the performance of Team USA at World Aquatics Championships [Image Source : Getty]

Michael Phelps previously issued a strongly-worded statement against the USA Swimming over Team USA's performance at the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore. For the first time since 2022, USA had finished outside the top two of the medal tally, apart from generating just 32 medals overall.

In the long post shared on Instagram, Phelps had mentioned,

"I've watched too many teammates struggle to compete in a sport they love without the support they need. I've also seen the sport struggle to return its membership numbers to pre-pandemic level and I'm done pretending this system works just because it produces medals."

Phelps had previously responded to the claims made by Bob Vincent, who is the interim CEO of USA Swimming. Vincent had expressed his disappointment in the statements made by Phelps, his teammate Ryan Lochte and former Olympic champion Rowdy Gaines, to which Phelps responded in the comments section of an Instagram post, writing,

“maybe a false statement , bc I know they didn’t reach out to rowdy. They’ve shoved us out the door for years. Treated me like a piece of meat thro my career. Hopefully it changes someday….”

For the unversed, Ryan Lochte had shared a meme that posted an obituary for USA Swimming. Michael Phelps and Rowdy Gaines had supported Lochte by resharing the post on their respective Instagram profiles.