"I wanted to change the sport of swimming"- When Michael Phelps opened facing massive upset to youngster in last individual race of his career

Michael Phelps once spoke about losing to Singapore's Joseph Schooling at the Rio Olympics. The US swimmer praised Schooling for presenting an amazing performance at the quadrennial event and expressed his joy in being able to motivate the generation of swimmers yet to come.

Phelps competed at his last Olympic Games in Rio and recorded phenomenal performances to win gold medals in five events. His record for gold medals in the 100m men's butterfly was, however, broken by Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling at the age of 21.

Joseph Schooling timed 50.39s to establish a new Olympic record and be the first Singaporean to win an Olympic gold medal. Michael Phelps timed 51.14s to take the silver medal with Chad le Clos and László Cseh in a tie. Phelps spoke about Schooling's performance in a post-race interview and lauded the youngster for putting forward a dominating performance

"I swam faster than I did four years to win (in London). But Joe's tough. Obviously, he's had a great year last year and had a really great last two years so hats off to him," he said.

Joseph Schooling spoke about being hugely inspired by Phelps as a young swimmer and credited the American for helping him develop a never-give-up spirit. Michael Phelps reacted to Schooling's comments and expressed how he always wanted to create a long-lasting impact on the sport of swimming and inspire the upcoming generation.

"I'm so proud of Joe. I wanted to change the sport of swimming. I wanted kids to dare to dream, and that's just what Joe did," he added.

The American athlete expressed how he wanted kids to dream big and reach for the stars.

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Michael Phelps' message for the upcoming athletes

Michael Phelps during United States v Australia - 2025 SheBelieves Cup - Source: Getty

Michael Phelps shared an inspirational message for kids during his appearance at the WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am 2025. As the game was cancelled post-afternoon, Phelps was approached by a group of kids for photos. He was impressed by the enthusiasm showcased by the kids and shared an inspiring message for them.

He urged the kids to work hard and be determined towards their goals while being undeterred by distractions.

“It's incredible. What I did wasn't easy, but what I did was through hard work and determination. If there's a kid that has a dream, that has something that they want to accomplish, hopefully they can learn something about how to do it based off what I did,” he said.

Furthermore, he hoped that they would learn important lessons from his career as a swimmer and achieve all their goals.