The most decorated Olympian of all time sported his own brand of swim gear to win his 25th Olympic medal Tuesday night.
The “MP” Michael Phelps brand launched just over a year ago after the swimmer partnered with Vista-based company Aqua Sphere.
“We're just overjoyed and excited that Michael's doing well first and foremost,” Stephen Murnane, president of the company, said Tuesday. “And the fact that we've had some sort of input and contribution to that.”
The gear was specially designed with input from Phelps and his coach and the USA men's Olympic swimming coach Bob Bowman.
“We're doing everything we can to enhance his speed,” said Murnane. “But at the same time, he doesn’t want to have to think about anything he has on his body.”
The gear includes training equipment which Phelps has been using over the last year leading up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
“Anytime they don't have to think about their gear or equipment is going to make them perform better."
And so far at the games, Phelps has performed extremely well, earning two more gold medals by Tuesday.
He wore his size 28 swimsuit designed to provide both compression and flexibility. His goggles allow him to see two lanes over on either side of him while he’s competing.
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“What Michael wanted, he wanted that peripheral vision so he can see his competitors when he's swimming.”
Finally, Phelps wears his swim cap bearing his name and country.
“What he likes about this, it doesn't wrinkle, it doesn't ride up. He wants to be able to hear from the crowd. He gets inspiration from that crowd noise.”
But what Phelps doesn't want of course is for the cap to tear in two, which is what happened Tuesday, moments before diving into the pool for the 200m freestyle relay to secure his 21st Olympic gold medal.
