--- description: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps reportedly had a blood alcohol level nearly double the legal limit when he was pulled over by Maryland police title: Michael Phelps Reportedly Had Blood Alcohol Level of .14 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82c9fe2885224ba6/6986a67235ba6f1faac04261/michael-phelps.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Phelps Had Blood Alcohol Nearly Double Legal Limit by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 1, 2014 9:53 PM CUT  American swimmer Michael Phelps competes during the men's 4 x 100m individual medley final in Gold Coast, Australia, on Aug. 24, 2014 American swimmer Michael Phelps competes during the men's 4 x 100m individual medley final in Gold Coast, Australia, on Aug. 24, 2014Patrick Hamilton—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 1, 2014 9:53 PM CUT Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps reportedly had a blood alcohol level nearly double the legal limit when he was pulled over by Maryland police on Tuesday. Phelps had a blood alcohol level of .14, the Baltimore [_Sun_](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-phelps-arrest-document-20141001,0,7122708.story "undefined")reports based on documents that paper obtained Wednesday. He was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Phelps reportedly failed two roadside sobriety tests before completely giving up on the third. “That’s not happening,” the 29-year-old is said to have told an officer who asked him to try standing on one leg. Tuesday’s incident was the 22-time Olympic medalist’s second DUI. In 2004, Phelps pleaded guilty to driving drunk and served 18 months probation. Phelps released an apology in a series of [tweets](https://twitter.com/MichaelPhelps "undefined") on Tuesday, saying in part “I am deeply sorry to everyone I have let down.” \[[_Baltimore Sun_](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-phelps-arrest-document-20141001,0,7122708.story "undefined")\] ### Lights, Camera, Infraction: 12 Memorable Celebrity Mugshots  Justin Bieber Miami Dade County Jail/AP  Bruno Mars WireImage/Getty Images  Paris Hilton Los Angeles Sheriff's Department/Getty Images  Robert Downey Jr. Culver City Police Department/Getty Images  Frank Sinatra Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Amanda Bynes Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office/WireImage/Getty Images  Kid Rock DeKalb County Sheriff's Office/Getty Images  Kiefer Sutherland Glendale City Police Department/Getty Images  Nicole Richie Glendale Police Department/Getty Images  Mel Gibson Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department/Getty Images  James Brown Aiken County Sheriff's Office/Getty Images  Lindsay Lohan Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3453801/michael-phelps-dui-bal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3453801/michael-phelps-dui-bal/"},"headline":"Michael Phelps Had Blood Alcohol Nearly Double Legal Limit","datePublished":"2014-10-01T21:53:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:35.693Z","description":"Phelps reportedly told an officer \"that's not happening\" when the Olympian was asked to stand on one leg","url":"https://time.com/3453801/michael-phelps-dui-bal/","keywords":["Crime","Maryland","Michael Phelps"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82c9fe2885224ba6/6986a67235ba6f1faac04261/michael-phelps.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82c9fe2885224ba6/6986a67235ba6f1faac04261/michael-phelps.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWIM-PANPACS-AUS-USA","caption":"SWIM-PANPACS-AUS-USA","creditText":"Patrick Hamilton—AFP/Getty Images","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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3453801/michael-phelps-dui-bal/","name":"Michael Phelps Had Blood Alcohol Nearly Double Legal Limit"}}]}] ```