Michael Phelps isn’t happy with his teams recent third place showing against Australia in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, their first loss in a major showing in seven years and now he’s promising that the team will use the pain of defeat to prepare for the 2012 Summer Olympics Games in London.

Team USA lost in Shanghai during the first night of swimming when the Australian team led by James Magnussen set a faster pace than Phelps during the teams first race defeat since the 2004 Olympics.

Speaking of the loss Phelps said:

“It’s frustrating. As we all said after the race, it’s not how we want to start it.”

Phelps continued:

“We know what we have to do to get back and we all said standing up on the podium it’s clearly not the spot we want to be in, so this is really going to be a motivation.”

Team USA finished nearly a full second behind Australia’s 3min 11.00sec time while Phelps was swimming with Garrett Weber-Gale, Jason Lezak and Nathan Adrian.

The loss was also Phelps’ first loss in a major even race since the 2004 Athens Games.

Asked what his team will need to do in order to win he gave a simple answer, “Clearly we need to be faster” while adding, ”That’s the easiest thing. Those guys jumped on that first 100m and got to open water and I think that’s something we need to do in that race.”

Regardless of the loss the team is still expected to be a top contender at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Michael Phelps Promises Team USA Will Rebound During 2012 Olympic Games is a post from: The Inquisitr

At around 9pm local time, Michael Phelps was involved in a car crash in his home town of Baltimore, MD.

Sources told PerezHilton.com that Phelps was speeding, ran a red light and smashed his Cadillac Escalade into a Honda Accord which then hit a parked car. Phelps didn’t appear to be injured in the crash and was seen talking to police near the scene of the accident. One woman has been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Of course, when a car wreck happens, especially in a city, people gather around to rubberneck and when the onlookers realized who it was, they started snapping photos with their cellphones. That’s when Phelps started getting irate and began yelling at the photogs to delete the photos.

Olympic Gold Medallist Michael Phelps, a swimmer, has been in the news before after scandalous photos of him appeared online smoking from a bong. No word yet on whether Phelps was impared at the time of the car wreck.

Michael Phelps Car Crash in Baltimore is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Phelps became the first man to swim the 100m butterfly in under 50 seconds in Rome Saturday night with a new world record of 49.82 seconds, bettering his mark of 50.22 set in early July.

The race, which pitted Phelps against Serb Milorad Cavic was billed as the matchup of the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships, and it didn’t disappoint.

Following some drama pre-race, including Phelps colliding in a warm up pool with an Australian swimmer, Cavic pulled ahead early and was first at the turn, with Phelps looking like he was spent in 4th place. But anyone who has ever seen Phelps swim knows that he could be last and still win at that point because he was probably just warming up.

Shifting up a gear Phelps powered home in the last 50m in a stunning finish. Notably Cavic clocked 49.95, a time that would have been a world record if it hadn’t been for Phelps going that 0.13 seconds quicker.

The win is Phelps’ fourth of the meet.

Michael Phelps breaks world 100m butterfly record…again is a post from: The Inquisitr

The record books in swimming have turned into a farce at the Rome world championships with the decision to delay the outlawing of wetsuits until next January. From 22 events, there have been 18 world records broken, mostly by swimmers wearing the double-layered suits, with second-raters leaving the likes of eight-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps in their technology-assisted wake.

There are a further 18 swimming finals to be swum, with further records expected to be broken at the same clip. At this rate, 80 per cent of the records in world swimming are going to have asterisks next to them. Shame must be attributed to FINA, the world swimming body.

Men

Women

* Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Frederike Heemskerk, Magdalena Veldhuis
** Yang Yu, Zhu Qianwei, Liu Jing, Pang Jiaying

Updated list of swimming world records that are a complete joke is a post from: The Inquisitr

If there was ever any concern over Michael Phelps’ return to the pool, the champion swimmer put those to rest today by breaking the 100m butterfly world record with a 50.22 seconds, taking 0.18 seconds off the record set by Ian Crocker six years ago.

In the race at the American Swim Championship, Phelps led at 50 meters mark clocking 23.83, just off the world record pace, but it would appear he wasn’t yet in top gear, picking up the speed in the final 50 meters to take the record.

The new record takes Phelps’ record count to five. Along with the new record Phelps holds the world records for the 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medleys, and the 200m freestyle.

Michael Phelps breaks 100m butterfly world record is a post from: The Inquisitr

American back stroker and Athens Olympic champion Aaron Peirsol reclaimed his world record in the 100-meter backstroke Wednesday at the U.S. swimming championships in Indianapolis.

Peirsol trailed Matt Grevers at the 50 meter mark, then put himself up a gear on the final stretch to win in 51.94 seconds. Peirsol’s previous mark of 52.54 at the Beijing Olympics was broken by Spain’s Aschwin Wildeboer Faber on at the begging of this month with a 52.38.

In related new, Michael Phelps won the 200 butterfly in 1:52.76 and the 200 freestyle in 1:44.23 at the same event. The event serves as a qualifier for the forthcoming Swimming World Championship in Rome.

Aaron Peirsol reclaims world record is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite widespread reports earlier this week, Subway is not dumping swim star and self confessed pot head Michael Phelps.

Rumors that the chain were to dump Phelps started after Subway removed links and references to Phelps from their website.

The firm said in a statement that “Like most Americans, and like Michael Phelps himself, we were disappointed in his behavior. Also like most Americans, we accept his apology. Moving forward, he remains in our plans.”

The apparent back flip from Subway comes as more people back a boycott of Kellogg’s, a company that has definitely dumped Phelps.

(img: yumsugar)

Phelps will still get free double meatballs at Subway is a post from: The Inquisitr

From the folks at High Times comes a modern take on Chris Crocker: Leave Michael Phelps alone!

Leave Michael Phelps Alone is a post from: The Inquisitr

Another day, another unhappy sponsor.

Subway is reported to be in the process of dumping Michael Phelps over the infamous bong picture.

The company hasn’t confirmed the dumping, but has quietly deleted links to Phelps from its website, a sure sign that the formal cut is on its way.

Phelps won’t lose too much sleep though, most people prefer Burger King or McDonalds when they get the munchies.

Phelps only signed on with Subway November 2008.

Michael Phelps wont be getting his munchies from Subway any more is a post from: The Inquisitr

The so far mostly positive reaction to the now famous bong pic couldn’t last for Michael Phelps, and it hasn’t.

Phelps has been suspended for 3 months by USA Swimming, including all financial support for the period.

“This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero,” a spokesman said.

The positive reaction to the picture from Omega wasn’t matched by Kellog’s, who have decided to dump Phelps, saying the photo was “”not consistent with the image of [Kellogg's]“. Phelps appears on Corn Flake boxes.

Michael Phelps suspended from swimming, dumped by sponsor is a post from: The Inquisitr

The original expert consensus over the Michael Phelps bong picture had the Olympic champion losing endorsements, but so far sponsors are actually loving the attention.

In the now famous shot, Phelps was wearing an Omega watch. “You can’t buy this kind of product placement — believe me, we’ve tried!” a spokesman for Omega Watches told The Huffington Post, “He’s modeling one of our blinged-out products as he expertly removes the carb from the bong, which we will also be selling replicas of: The Poseidon, as we are proudly calling it, holds actual water, just like what Michael Phelps swims in!”

The same report continues by saying other Phelps sponsors see the picture as an opportunity:

Contrary to the negative backlash which advertisers used to go through to keep imaginary customers happy, Phelps’s sponsors are proactive, seizing on Phelps’ snapshot as a way to re-market a guy the country already loves, only now with 10% more bad boy included. “Girls love a bad boy!” the Power Bar communications director stated. “And everyone likes getting 10% more of something for free.”

Michael Phelps: blessed not only in the pool, and out of it as well. You wouldn’t see many other sports stars sail away from something like this.

Michael Phelps sponsors happy over bong shot is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Phelps has responded to the scandal surrounding his bong pic by saying he regrets what he has done.

In a statement, Phelps said

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Experts are saying that the damage is done, and along with a serious risk to his swimming career, the photo could cost him tens of millions in endorsements.

Phelps could be banned from swimming for up to 4 years if he proves positive to a drugs test, although it’s not clear yet whether the photograph alone would be sufficient evidence for a ban.

Michael Phelps Regrets Bong Pic is a post from: The Inquisitr

Being the most successful Olympian of all time can be stressful, so what better way than a few cones to keep things in perspective.

That’s apparently how Michael Phelps copes.

Photos of the US Olympic swim star smoking from a bong have appeared in the UK tabloid News of the World, who claim that due to “four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.”

The photos are said to have been taken in November 2008. Neither the US Olympic and swimming bodies, nor Phelps’ agent has commented on the shots, although News of the World claims Phelps’ representatives tried to offer the paper incentives to not publish the photograph.

Whoops: Michael Phelps caught getting stoned (picture) is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just kidding, it’s this advertisement that tells me not to get one. It just doesn’t seem right. We’ll just stick to Rock Band.

Guitar Hero World Tour with Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, A-Rod, and Tony Hawk is a post from: The Inquisitr

Saturday Night Live announced their season premiere host: it’ll be Olympic supahstar Michael Phelps! Let’s hope that this fares better than his pre-/post-performance interviews, where things can get a little awkward. Come September 13th (11:30 pm, on NBC, people!), I’ll be wishing that he doesn’t suck out after riding high on his gold awesomeness. I hope there’s a surprise lurking and he turns out to be a comedic genius, because otherwise it’ll be kinda sad.

Who am I kidding? It’s not like people will worship him any less if he has an off day in the comedy world.

Image: Getty

Michael Phelps Will Kick Off Saturday Night Live’s New Season is a post from: The Inquisitr

The poll also found that Match.com members dig beach volleyball by choosing Kerri Walsh as the female Olympian that they’d most like to go on a date with. Who wouldn’t? I have to admit though that I’d choose Natalie Coughlin.

Match.com members also proved that the Olympics aren’t just about six-pack abs and bulging biceps. 62% of survey respondents said that dedication and determination make an Olympic athlete more attractive than just their chiseled physiques (38%). They’re obviously lying.

Match.com also announced that they are offering free membership to Phelps until he finds that special someone. With Phelps reportedly seen having a hot make-out session with Down Under swimmer Stephanie Rice, I don’t think he would be needing that membership offer.

Match.com Offers Free Membership to Michael Phelps is a post from: The Inquisitr