Debbie Phelps has cast off the mantle of "America's Mother" for something a little more Sir Thomas More.
Henceforth, the world's most famous swimming mom is to be known as "A Mother for All Seasons." That's the title of her memoir, which hit bookstores last week.
Why not invoke the saint who stood up to Henry VIII in a tale about a single mom who raised an Olympic phenom? Only Phelps doesn't lose her head, even in the part - page 272 of the 274-page book - about Michael Phelps' bong picture.
Not that the word bong or pot or marijuana ever appears in the post-Beijing epilogue, which also fails to mention Caroline Caz Pal, the Vegas cocktail waitress Michael brought home for Thanksgiving. That would be too indelicate, even for a book billed as a warts-and-all look at the family's "roller-coaster ride."
The Mother for All Seasons refers only to "the media deluge stirred by a British tabloid photograph of Michael taken at a college party."
She does offer a bit of insight into her reaction.
"I was, as Michael expressed to a reporter, 'Not happy,' " she writes with the assistance of co-author Mim Eichler Rivas. "Let me quickly add, however, that as the mother for all seasons that I'm committed to being, I could not have been more proud of how Michael dealt with the onslaught, taking full responsibility for his actions, not blaming anyone but himself. Michael has not only taken his lumps, recommitting himself to the sport he loves, but has gone even further by promising never to repeat the mistakes that have let his admirers down."
The Recent Unpleasantness has even inspired Mama Phelps to take on a new cause.
"As one of the next projects I intend to undertake - with a note to myself not to limit my own possibilities - I'd like to do more to energize our Olympic movement not just to train our athletes to become champions, but also give them opportunities after victory to find structure and focus in arenas other than the field of competition."
So there it is: an acknowledgment, however oblique, that after all the years of eat, sleep, swim, her son is rather lost when he's at loose ends on dry land.
The day the book came out, the allegedly chastened Michael was in New York, where he found his way to the club Marquee, The New York Daily News reports. He reportedly stuck to a legal drug - alcohol - though in quantities that didn't scream "recommitted."
