Michael Phelps’s last Olympics will be emotional, says his mom Debbie

Washington: It won’t be easy for Michael Phelps, or his family to say goodbye to the pool, as he will be retiring from the Olympics next month.

The 27-year-old swimmer recently confirmed that this would be his fourth and final Olympic Games. “It’ll be a big moment,” a magazine quoted his mom Debbie as saying. “I’ll pull out my box of tissues, because it’s going to be emotional,” she said. After qualifying for eight events in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Phelps opted to swim seven – the 200 and 400 individual medley, the 100 and 200 butterfly, and all three relays. Phelps made history in Beijing by winning eight medals, the most of any athlete in a single Olympic Games, beating American swimmer Mark Spitz’s record seven in 1972. “It’s not just the end of Michael swimming, but the end of a 25-year era that the Phelps family has been involved with,” Debbie’s elder daughter Hilary said. “And it’s culminating with Michael essentially being the greatest Olympian of all time – so there’s a nice bow on it!” she added. ANI