--- description: A fan of Michael Phelps who has autism has been inspiring thousands of people after he told the U.S. swimmer his lofty future aspirations title: Michael Phelps Fan With Autism Inspires Thousands on Facebook image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b07a8f88e69ac5c/6988a412cd1bba039b7021fb/michael-phelps-fan.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Phelps Fan With Autism Inspires Thousands on Facebook  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 29, 2016 8:14 PM CUT  Michael Phelps attends the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. Michael Phelps attends the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris—2016 WireImage  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 29, 2016 8:14 PM CUT A [fan of Michael Phelps](http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/38a91ff0d3374a9db4ad9e6127c56e4a/facebook-post-michael-phelps-fan-autism-inspires "undefined") who has autism has inspired thousands of people after he told the U.S. swimmer about his aspirations to compete in the Olympics and be the first person in his family to go to college. More than 3,000 people have shared a message that 21-year-old Austin Levingston [wrote](https://www.facebook.com/michaelphelps/photos/a.446945581246.249367.8938856246/10153896818176247/?type=3&comment%5Fid=10153896856111247&comment%5Ftracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D "undefined") to Phelps on the athlete’s Facebook page earlier this month. The Kansas man congratulates Phelps after he came back from the Olympics in Rio and outlines his hopes and dreams. “I know you may not care to read this but you are one of my biggest idols and I’ve been following you for a very long time,” Levingston writes. “Right now, I am currently going to college and hoping to become the first person in my whole family to get a degree. I am also a swim competitor just like you and I’m hoping to swim in the Olympics just like you someday.” The superstar’s fan also included side-by-side photos that he says shows that the two look alike. Many people replied to Levingston, telling the “inspiring” man to keep barreling toward his goal. Levingston told [the Baltimore _Sun_](http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bs-sp-michael-phelps-austin-levingston-20160828-story.html "undefined") that he’s not sure if Phelps saw his post. > [](https://twitter.com/baltimoresun/status/770239609951309825) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4471516/michael-phelps-fan-facebook-post/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4471516/michael-phelps-fan-facebook-post/"},"headline":"Michael Phelps Fan With Autism Inspires Thousands on Facebook","datePublished":"2016-08-29T20:14:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:05:37.447Z","description":"\"I'm hoping to swim in the Olympics just like you someday\"","url":"https://time.com/4471516/michael-phelps-fan-facebook-post/","keywords":["olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b07a8f88e69ac5c/6988a412cd1bba039b7021fb/michael-phelps-fan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b07a8f88e69ac5c/6988a412cd1bba039b7021fb/michael-phelps-fan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"michael-phelps-fan","caption":"Michael Phelps attends the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"Dimitrios Kambouris—2016 WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4471516/michael-phelps-fan-facebook-post/","name":"Michael Phelps Fan With Autism Inspires Thousands on Facebook"}}]}] ```