Ryan Lochte

For folks who simply can't get enough Phelps this week, by all means splash down into this adorable Lego reanimation of Thursday's Olympic showdown made by London's The Guardian. The video short replays the action of the 200M individual medley where Michael Phelps claimed his first personal gold of the 2012 games. The creators not only managed to include all of the action in the pool, there's shots of Debbie Phelps and the Phelps sisters in the stands and even a little wink to the famous Michael Phelps breakfast.

Lest anyone had any doubt what a year Michael Phelps has had, behold this: GQ's Russian version just named him International Man of the Year. Phelps made the cover of Russian GQ's current issue, looking, well, rather sexy in low slung sweats, and a leather jacket over an unzipped hoodie. One pretty much notices the abs first. Ryan Lochte is no doubt seething. And girlfriend Megan Rossee must be proud, proud, proud. Wish we knew, however, what the headline says about Phelps.

It's hard to focus on tonight's "Bachelor Pad" while we are eagerly awaiting ABC to confirm Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte as the next Bachelor. And this isn't a pipe dream like our " Make Chris Harrison the Next Bachelor " Facebook group. A few days ago, Lochte let slip to Matt Lauer on"Today" that he wanted to be the next Bachelor and appear on "Dancing with the Stars. "  Is he a good candidate? Well, he's single and famous. Without the gold medals, he's just like Bachelor Brad without the southern accent.

For now, Michael Phelps is doing what any 27-year-old who has won more medals than any Olympian ever - and earned millions along the way - would probably do. Vacation a little bit. (You've probably seen pictures of him in Las Vegas and the Maldives .) Golf. (Of course, his golf game is the subject of a reality television show.) Date a model. ( You've read all about Megan Rossee by now.) And, because he's from Baltimore, eat crabs. “Pretty much I'm just living the retirement life,” Phelps said Monday after a ceremony/pep rally at Under Armour headquarters.

Surging to one of his trademark late-breaking finishes, Michael Phelps won his final event - the 100-meter butterfly - at the Olympic qualifying trials Sunday night, and heads to London likely to swim the same eight races that produced his record-breaking gold-medal haul. "It shows I can do an event program like this at a high level again," said Phelps, who qualified for five events in London and is expected to be named to three relay teams as he was in Beijing. "I think we were struggling over the last couple of years doing one event at this level.

Michael Phelps , who turns 27 on Saturday, said his mother and sisters always say how hard it is to find a birthday present for him. And indeed, what he wants to open they can't exactly wrap. Phelps will spend his birthday battling Ryan Lochte for the 200-meter individual medley win at the Olympic qualifying trials after finishing second to his rival in Friday night's semifinals. Saturday is "my birthday so hopefully I get a birthday present," Phelps said Friday night.

With Michael Phelps' script calling for him to exit pool left after these Games, every day brings another last - of a particular race, for example, or a final matchup against a worthy rival. But even after four Olympics, Phelps is finding firsts. Thursday night, he became the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics - the 200-meter individual medley. It may be a rather nuanced title, full of qualifications, compared to those he already has after his name, such as the most-decorated Olympian moniker earned Tuesday night.

BEIJING - Listen to Ryan Lochte talk and your mind conjures images of Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Wooderson from Dazed and Confused. While most athletes rely on a carefully scripted series of businesslike cliches, he is as mellow as the Florida surf at low tide. It's easy to overlook, when you listen to his version of skateboarder Zen, that he might be the second-best swimmer in the world. But it's true. If there was no Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte just might be Michael Phelps, the swimmer favored to win more gold medals than you can count on one hand at these Olympics.

Michael Phelps enters Monday night's finals in the 400-meter individual medley seeded second to rival Ryan Lochte after the morning preliminary heats. Phelps' teammate at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Chase Kalisz, 18, swam to a surprise third-best time in the preliminaries that opened the Olympic qualifying trials here. "It was all right. It felt fairly relaxed ... The breaststroke was there," Phelps told reporters, referring to the third of the strokes in the medley. "Then I saw Chase and I knew I couldn't let him be anywhere close.

Who was that swimmer in the far lane, finishing fourth and failing to medal? A sluggish-looking Michael Phelps launched his final Olympics Saturday night in uncharacteristic fashion, leaving the pool without a stop at the medal platform after a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley. It's the first time he has exited a Summer Games event empty-handed since his first Olympics in 2000. Instead, his rival Ryan Lochte was the one who swam dominantly, taking the lead in the first 100 meters to win the first gold medal awarded in the eight-day swimming competition.

It's hard to focus on tonight's "Bachelor Pad" while we are eagerly awaiting ABC to confirm Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte as the next Bachelor. And this isn't a pipe dream like our " Make Chris Harrison the Next Bachelor " Facebook group. A few days ago, Lochte let slip to Matt Lauer on"Today" that he wanted to be the next Bachelor and appear on "Dancing with the Stars. "  Is he a good candidate? Well, he's single and famous. Without the gold medals, he's just like Bachelor Brad without the southern accent.

In Beijing, Michael Phelps won eight Olympic gold medals, and six in Athens before that. Last Saturday, Ryan Lochte beat Mr. Phelps convincingly in the 400-meter individual medley. Last Sunday, Mr. Phelps built a solid lead for Mr. Lochte in the 400-meter relay, and Mr. Lochte lost it and the race. And last Monday, a very fast French swimmer and two others relegated Mr. Lochte to fourth place in the 200-meter free style. Naturally, we wish him the very best, but it is now even clearer to everyone, including no doubt Mr. Lochte, how awesomely impressive Michael Phelps ' accomplishments are. The hype about "Lochte's time" is now in proper perspective: He will achieve some good, maybe even great results, but there simply has never been anybody like Michael Phelps . Bradley Alger, Baltimore

On the first day of the rest of his life,  Michael Phelps   slept in. Really in. "I just woke up," he told reporters at a 1 p.m. news conference Sunday, the day after he swam his last race ever to complete a 22-medal run over four Olympics. After spending much of his life seeing almost nothing but "the black line at the bottom of the pool," Phelps seemed ready to make up for lost time. He's been here for about two weeks, for example, but just now had seen Big Ben and the Parliament as he was driven to the event, organized by one of his sponsors, Visa.

The tension in the air at Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center during Michael Phelps ' 100-meter butterfly race Friday afternoon was almost as thick as the chlorine smell that filled the pool's lobby. From the moment Phelps hit the water, the nearly 50 members of the Olympic swimmer's North Baltimore pool crowded around a TV screaming "Mi-chael! Mi-chael! Mi-chael!" They issued a collective groan at the halfway turn, when Phelps appeared to be lagging behind. But he pounded through the last 50 meters, and the nervousness at Meadowbrook erupted into euphoria - manifested in an earsplitting scream - as Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, stretched past South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin to claim his 17th gold medal and 21st medal overall.

For folks who simply can't get enough Phelps this week, by all means splash down into this adorable Lego reanimation of Thursday's Olympic showdown made by London's The Guardian. The video short replays the action of the 200M individual medley where Michael Phelps claimed his first personal gold of the 2012 games. The creators not only managed to include all of the action in the pool, there's shots of Debbie Phelps and the Phelps sisters in the stands and even a little wink to the famous Michael Phelps breakfast.

With Michael Phelps' script calling for him to exit pool left after these Games, every day brings another last - of a particular race, for example, or a final matchup against a worthy rival. But even after four Olympics, Phelps is finding firsts. Thursday night, he became the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics - the 200-meter individual medley. It may be a rather nuanced title, full of qualifications, compared to those he already has after his name, such as the most-decorated Olympian moniker earned Tuesday night.

Michael Phelps finished second in the 400-meter individual medley to arch-rival Ryan Lochte in the opening act of the Olympic swimming trials here Monday, but both qualified for the London Games, setting the stage for another duel over their sport's most challenging event. After a race that began with the Baltimore swimmer, Lochte and Tyler Clary grabbing the lead from one another, Lochte pulled away halfway through and stormed to a 4-minute, 7.06-second finish. Phelps pulled in .83 seconds later.

For now, Michael Phelps is doing what any 27-year-old who has won more medals than any Olympian ever - and earned millions along the way - would probably do. Vacation a little bit. (You've probably seen pictures of him in Las Vegas and the Maldives .) Golf. (Of course, his golf game is the subject of a reality television show.) Date a model. ( You've read all about Megan Rossee by now.) And, because he's from Baltimore, eat crabs. “Pretty much I'm just living the retirement life,” Phelps said Monday after a ceremony/pep rally at Under Armour headquarters.

LONDON - Michael Phelps, after just becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, will anchor the U.S. men's 800-meter freestyle relay tonight. The surprise decision - Phelps tends to lead off - was announced just before the start of the 200-meter butterfly, in which he won silver. The U.S. relay team will be led off by Ryan Lochte, who on Sunday anchored the 400 frees relay and gave up the race-long lead to French swimmer Yannick Agnel, in a reverse of what happened so dramatically in the Beijing Games.

Bouncing back from a lackluster beginning to his final Games, Michael Phelps could add two new superlatives to his already glittering Olympic legacy as early as Tuesday. When Phelps climbs on the starting blocks for Tuesday night's 200-meter butterfly, he will be chasing gold as he always does. While these games have seen him fall short of that --– he left empty-handed from Saturday's 400-meter individual medley and won silver in Sunday's 400-meter freestyle –-- any color medal will tie him with the woman who is currently the most decorated Olympian ever.