According to the New York Post Olympic champion Michael Phelps has split with longtime girlfriend and former Miss California, Nicole Johnson.

The two had been dating on and off for several years. Sources say that the couple split a few weeks ago right before the holiday season. Since then, Phelps is telling all of his friends that he’s a single guy.

On New Year’s Eve it was said that Michael Phelps celebrated with a group of twelve friends at Chelsea hot spot Avenue. Meanwhile, going by Johnson’s Twitter feed, she rang in the new year in LA with friends.

This hasn’t been the first time the two have experienced murky waters. In the past two years Phelps has been linked to other beauties, such as a Vegas cocktail waitress, Miss California Carrie Prejean, and a college graduate. In 2011 RadarOnline  broke a story about Phelps being in a secret two year relationship with Canadian woman, Ashley Finestone. “Michael was in Montreal last weekend [July 2011] to compete in the Canada Cup and I saw him walking hand-in-hand with Ashley,” a source told RadarOnline.

Despite the rumors of constant flings, and hidden relationships, things appeared to be going strong with Johnson and Phelps when the pair took a romantic break in Maui, Hawaii in September 2010.

So far Phelps’ Rep hasn’t commented.

Michael Phelps Splits with Beauty Queen is a post from: The Inquisitr

China’s Health Ministry announced over the weekend that 10 percent of public swimming pools in China exceed the safe limit for urea levels. The study was released after the Health Ministry inspected 5,639 swimming pools in 24 Chinese provinces, municipalities and regions from June through August 2011.

The study found that 90.8 percent of swimming pools meet urea guidelines while only 83.7 percent have met the standard for “residual chlorine” content.

Research also determined that the total percentage of bacteria in a swimming pool can reach 92.3 percent while the rate of coli bacteria can be as high as 96.9 percent.

Chinese officials blame poor water circulation in their pools and state that refilling water has done little to help the overall situation.

After publishing their findings the Health Ministry began urging local departments to supervise urea and bacteria levels in their facilities in order to track and hopefully improve conditions at pools throughout the country.

Does it surprise you that so many pools are considered over contaminated throughout China?

China Swimming Pool Crisis: 10% Of Pools Have Extremely High Urea Levels is a post from: The Inquisitr

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

Ever wondered how you could take you fancy gadgets to the beach and not worry about running out of battery power?

Well, if you have $200 and a lady who loves her gadgets just as you do you can buy her this fancy solar-powered bikini created by New York designer Andrew Schneider. Called the iKini (what else would you expect it to be called) and comes equipped with four hidden pockets for carrying anything from a cellphone to an iPod.

As well Schneider says it is water save as long as you make sure the suit is dry before trying to plug anything in.

via Geeks are Sexy

Hey ladies, prove how green you are with this solar-powered bikini is a post from: The Inquisitr

26-year-old swimming star Fran Crippen died during a race in the United Arab Emirates today after losing consciousness during the event.

Crippen was found in the water after a lengthy search prompted by a teammate’s concerns. Some details surrounding the circumstances that lead to Crippen’s death seem to be in dispute, and it has been speculated that the water was far too hot for an race with the parameters of today’s event. Several other participants were treated for heat exhaustion.

From a Swimming World news release regarding the incident:

With the water in the mid-to-high 80s, the competitors all finished and noticed that Crippen had not crossed the finish line. Meet management brought in deep sea divers, who found Crippen unconscious just before the final buoy nearly two hours later. He was transported to the Fujairah Hospital and later died according to information provided to Swimming World. Conflicting reports state that he was found dead on the course.

Crippen had shown signs of slowing down during the third lap of the five-lap race. When Crippen did not immediately finish, a fact noticed by teammate Alex Meyer who screamed for help, the competing swimmers rushed back into the water to help with the search.

Information provided to Swimming World demonstrates that the water was likely too hot for the event as several swimmers were treated for heat exhaustion after the race.

The race was to be Crippen’s last of the season, after which he planned to vacation in Italy.

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US Swimmer Fran Crippen dies during event in UAE 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

Common bacteria that lurks in the mud in and around lakes has nearly killed an apparently healthy teenager in North Carolina.

While the CDC reports that the bacteria is common and sickness caused by it is rare (fewer than 150 infections have been reported worldwide between 1927 and 2005), officials caution swimmers not to drink lake water or dig around lakes, just in case.

Not long after a day of swimming and digging around the Hope Wells Lake, Matthew McKinney complained to his mother of a fever and a runny nose. Believed to have been sickened by naturally occurring Chromobacterium Violaceum, within a few days Matthew’s teeth began falling out due to decay caused by the bacteria.

It soon became apparent that the fast-spreading bacteria was eating the boy alive, visibly manifesting as swelling in the nose, cheek and gum areas. Doctors have since removed part of his nose, five of the boy’s teeth and half of the palette in his mouth.

Officials have not closed the lake, as the bacteria is “abundant” in most warm-water lakes in the Southeastern US. However, Matthew’s father Brian told a local paper he’d like to see signs posted cautioning swimmers not to “disturb the mud.” Rare as it may be, I think I’m just gonna stick to pools from now on.

Summer scare: lake bacteria nearly kills teen is a post from: The Inquisitr

I am not letting go of this sucka is a post from: The Inquisitr