The question no longer seems to be an "if," but rather a "when" for Michael Phelps' 2016 Summer Olympic preparations.
The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week that Phelps' longtime coach Bob Bowman said he protégé is in shape and contemplating entering in a meet "sometime soon."
The 28-year-old Phelps has been practicing "four-to-five times a week" over the past nine months at the North Baltimore Athletic Club," Bowman said, according to the Tribune. Phelps participated in one of Bowman's high-intensity altitude training camps at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
"He looks like he is definitely in shape," Bowman said, the Tribune reported.
Phelps retired after the 2012 Summer Games in London. He made waves when he put himself back into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's testing pool last year. He has fulfilled the six-month waiting period to have his eligibility restored.
The Tribune also stated that Bowman said it was "too early to tell" whether Phelps would seek a place on the U.S. team for the 2015 World Championships. The 2014 U.S. Championships this August in Irvine, Calif. is the selection meet for the 2015 world team.
"If he swims a meet in the next couple months and does well, he will probably give it a shot in Irvine," Bowman said, according to the report. "But he doesn't have to do that to have a shot at the 2016 Olympics."
Bowman said Phelps probably would concentrate on relays and shorter events, which including the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He has won individual event Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 individual medley and 200 freestyle, the Tribune reported.
Phelps holds the record for most Olympic medals overall and gold medals in particular. He has 22 medals overall and 18 gold.
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