--- description: The 28-year-old Olympian, who retired from competitive swimming in 2012, will compete at an event in Mesa, Ariz. on April 24-26. His trainer said Phelps hasn't yet decided if he'll participate in the U.S. national championship title: Michael Phelps May Be Coming Out of Retirement image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt283d4ed0500ecb95/69868a9cf983e7c3d604d4d1/michael-phelps-ends-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [swimming](/tag/swimming/) ## swimming Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Phelps Will Compete Once Again  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2014 5:37 PM CUT  Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps waves to the spectators during a 2013-2014 NBA preseason game between Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, Oct. 18, 2013. Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps waves to the spectators during a 2013-2014 NBA preseason game between Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, Oct. 18, 2013.Eugene Hoshiko—AP  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2014 5:37 PM CUT American Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is coming out of retirement to compete for the first time since 2012’s London Olympic Games. The 28-year-old Olympian who retired from competitive swimming in 2012 will compete at an event in Mesa, Ariz. on April 24-26. “I think he’s just going to test the waters a little bit and see how it goes,” Phelp’s trainer, Bob Bowman, told the [Associated Press](http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/olympic-great-michael-phelps-ending-retirement-23319568 "undefined"). “I wouldn’t say it’s a full-fledged comeback.” Bowman said Phelps hasn’t yet decided if he’ll compete in the U.S. national championship if he qualifies. Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, has previously said he wouldn’t compete past age 30. “He’s really doing this because he wants to — there’s no outside pressure at all,” Bowman said. \[[AP](http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/olympic-great-michael-phelps-ending-retirement-23319568 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/61873/michael-phelps-retirement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/61873/michael-phelps-retirement/"},"headline":"Michael Phelps Will Compete Once Again","datePublished":"2014-04-14T17:37:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:17:47.852Z","description":"The 28-year-old Olympian, who retired from competitive swimming in 2012, will compete at an event in Mesa, Ariz. on April 24-26. His trainer said Phelps hasn't yet decided if he'll participate in the U.S. national championship","url":"https://time.com/61873/michael-phelps-retirement/","keywords":["swimming","Sports topic","Retirement","Michael Phelps","Summer Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt283d4ed0500ecb95/69868a9cf983e7c3d604d4d1/michael-phelps-ends-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt283d4ed0500ecb95/69868a9cf983e7c3d604d4d1/michael-phelps-ends-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michael Phelps comes out of retirement","caption":"Michael Phelps comes out of retirement","creditText":"Eugene Hoshiko—AP","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/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/swimming/","name":"swimming"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/61873/michael-phelps-retirement/","name":"Michael Phelps Will Compete Once Again"}}]}] ```