"Honestly, I thought he was going to kill himself" - When Michael Phelps' coach Bob Bowman revealed Olympian's condition before DUI arrest

Michael Phelps' former longtime coach, Bob Bowman, once revealed that he thought the swimmer was going to kill himself during his mental health struggles. Bowman's fears were aggravated when the Olympic champion faced a DUI (Driving Under Influence) arrest in the following weeks in September 2014.

Phelps struggled with depression following the end of his farewell tour in 2012 when he retired after the London Olympics. What began as post-Olympics blues quickly led the swimmer to depression and eventually to alcohol and drug addiction.

The 23-time Olympic champion's road to recovery started following a DUI arrest in September 2014 when he was caught driving his Range Rover at 84 mph in a 45-mph zone. When the news reached Bowman, he was less surprised than others, admitting that he had been living in fear that Phelps might do something harmful to himself.

"I had been living in fear that I was going to get a call that something had happened," Bowman told Sports Illustrated in 2015. "Honestly, I thought, the way he was going, he was going to kill himself. Not take his own life, but something like the DUI, but worse."

Phelps admitted he was not in a great space of mind and didn't want to be alive.

"I was in a really dark place," Michael Phelps was quoted as saying by Sports Illustrated. "Not wanting to be alive anymore."

The DUI arrest had Phelps' family and friends worried about him, and they pushed him to check into a treatment facility. Bowman also did the same through a conversation on the phone, giving the swimmer confidence that he could overcome the struggles he was going through.

"When I talked to him, he said, 'I don't think I can do this.' I said to him, 'You can do it, and you have to do it.'"

Phelps would eventually give in to the pressure, and while he found his initial stay in the facility extremely hard, it also healed him to some extent. Phelps would later make a comeback at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning five gold medals to retire as the most decorated Olympian in history.

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"You get to like the edge of a cliff, like ‘Cool now what?" - Michael Phelps on post-Olympic depression

Michael Phelps during the WM Phoenix Open 2025 - Previews - Source: Getty

Post-Olympic depression has become a common issue among big athletes, and Michael Phelps was no stranger to it, more so because his adrenaline would perhaps be the highest because no one won as many medals as he used to. The 28-time Olympic medalist experienced it for the first time after the 2004 Games, where he won eight medals, including six golds.

“I would say probably 2004. 2004 was my first taste of post-Olympic depression, you know, coming off such a high,” he told NBC.

“It’s basically… you get to like the edge of a cliff, like ‘Cool now what? Oh, I guess I've got to wait four more years to have the chance to do it again’.

Phelps would face it again after breaking the record for most gold medals won at a single Olympic Games, eight, in 2008, a record he stated he had been chasing his whole life.

“2008 was my second taste of post-Olympic depression because coming off that high after doing something you set out to do your whole entire life," Michael Phelps added.

The 39-year-old experienced the post-Olympic depression again after the 2012 London Olympics, but this time, it would turn much worse. Phelps has since continued to spread awareness about mental health issues and even helped fellow American Olympian Shaun White realize his own struggles.