After his victories at the Athens Olympics four years ago, Phelps is back and ready to break records once again. This Michigan graduate knew at an early age that he wanted to swim professionally and after scoring big with an astounding total of eight medals at Athens, he knew he wanted to go for the gold (again) this time around in Beijing.

Phelps is no dummy though, the Olympic swimmer does not count solely on his good looks, incredible talent or amazing endorsements – he has a backup plan. Phelps enrolled at the University of Michigan soon after his coach Bob Bowman took a job as the varsity swim coach at the university. Not wanting to swim for anyone else, Phelps enrolled and served as Bowman’s assistant coach for the swim team.

Because of Phelps' endorsement deals with Speedo, Omega, Visa and PowerBar,  he was forced to forfeit his right to swim for the varsity team because he was not considered an amateur. Phelps kept busy on the campus majoring in Sports Marketing and Managing and helping Bowman coach the team.

So as all my fellow UMich students and alum watch this skilled athlete glide through Olympic pools, break more records, get sweet endorsement deals - remember that he is one of us!