Michael Phelps plans to dive into youth programs when he returns from Beijing, and another Baltimore sports icon, Cal Ripken Jr., is ready to give him some advice.
“When the time is right for Michael, I would be happy to speak with him about what we have done for kids, and assist him in any way he would like,” Ripken said in a statement to The Examiner.
“He has made Baltimore very proud, and I, like all of Baltimore, am very excited and happy for him.”
Since retiring in 2001, Ripken has dedicated his time and name brand to minor league and youth baseball, with a new stadium and four youth fields in his hometown of Aberdeen.
Phelps, in an interview Monday night, said he would be involved in the operations of his home swim club, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and seemed to confirm rumors that he had purchased the club’s facility in Baltimore City.
“[Swimming coach Bob Bowman] and I are starting a new business back in Baltimore with the pool that we just bought,” Phelps told NBC’s Brian Williams. “We’re going to make some adjustments and see what we can do to take that sport to the next level.”
Club founder Murray Stephens said Tuesday that Phelps’ comments were “premature,” and that while Phelps and the club have been in talks, nothing has been finalized.
Stephens also said he was considering expanding the holdings of the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, where NBAC swimmers train, to the Northwest Ice Rink next door.
The NBAC announced in late April that Bowman would become its new chief operating officer, taking over for Stephens.
“We want Bob and Michael to be involved in helping the swimming program grow,” Stephens said. “The what and how of these things have not been finalized at all.”
Ripken was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon, but his spokesman, John Maroon, said Phelps’ involvement with NBAC would “make all the sense in the world,” and urged him to seek out Ripken’s help with the project.
He said the two spoke as recently as Tuesday, when Ripken surprised Phelps by calling in to an ESPN interview with the swimmer.
Maroon cautioned that Phelps and Octagon, the Northern Virginia sports marketing firm that represents him, must work quickly to capitalize on his legendary Olympic performance.
“His people have to remember, with Olympic athletes, it is just a moment,” Maroon said.
“He’ll always be remembered as the greatest swimmer. [But] he won’t be on the stage for another four years.”
Aside from his possible business concerns, Phelps told Williams he’s eager to finish moving into his new home in Fells Point and taking some time off.
“Whenever I’m out of the country, I always miss it. I think the biggest thing I’m looking to is getting back,” Phelps said.
“Seeing my dog, seeing my cars, and setting up my new house, getting everything moved in, and starting my new life in Baltimore.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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