Michael Phelps hits back at USA Swimming: ‘Treated me like piece of meat through my career’

Phelps and Lochte's criticism had also evoked a clapback from current American swimmer Lilly King, who tagged them on social media after a medal-winning night in Singapore and wrote: "You have been real quiet tonight."

(LEFT) Michael Phelps reacts after winning the silver medal in the men's 100-meter butterfly final during the 2016 Summer Olympics. (RIGHT) Phelps' exchange with Lillly King. (Photos: AP, Instagram screenshot)

The war brewing in US swimming got bigger with Olympic legend Michael Phelps taking another swipe at USA Swimming after their public statement defending itself for their recent performance at the Aquatics World Championship in Singapore. Phelps accused the governing body of swimming in USA of treating him like a “piece of meat” throughout his career.

Phelps, along with another swimming great Ryan Lochte, had led the chorus of criticism against the American swimming federation during the event, where the Americans’ superiority in the pool came under threat. The event in Singapore ended with USA leading the medal table for swimming in the pool. However, it was China that ended as the table toppers in the overall standings with both the the most gold medals (15) and overall medals (37) across the championship’s six disciplines.

During the event, Phelps and Lochte had shared a meme on their social media portraying the funeral of American swimming. Rowdy Gaines, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, had also criticised USA Swimming in interviews with The Associated press and on live broadcasts for the American network NBC. Among other things, Gaines had also spoken about how USA Swimming was without a CEO, even though the next Olympics are in three years at home in Los Angeles.

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This led to USA Swimming responding with a statement attributed to interim CEO Bob Vincent where USA Swimming said it was “saddened and disappointed at the timing of the comments”.

“We respect and value the opinions of Rowdy, Michael, Ryan, and all USA Swimming alums. We acknowledge that their comments come from a place of passion and genuine desire to see USA Swimming succeed. We are saddened and disappointed at the timing of the comments. The USA Swimming team battled severe illness in Singapore, and these comments added public scrutiny to an already challenging situation for our athletes and coaches. We are incredibly proud of the resilience of our team in the face of such difficult circumstances and remain confident in the leadership, strategic direction, and culture established by newly appointed National Team Managing Director Greg Meehan. USA Swimming has reached out directly to Rowdy and other notable alums in recent months, offering them a forum, including an invitation to join in a more official manner. The door remains open, as the only path forward for our sport is to work collectively to achieve a shared vision of success. We remain focused on the task at hand: winning LA28,” the statement read.

This evoked a sharp response from Phelps. “Maybe a false statement, because I know they didn’t reach out to Rowdy. They’ve shoved us out the door for years. Treated me like a piece of meat thro my career. Hopefully it changes someday,” Phelps said in the comments of the Big Friendly Swim Podcast account on Instagram.

American swimming contingent was underwhelming at the Paris Olympics last year where they led the medals table, but won only eight gold medals, the lowest total since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Their World Championships preparations were affected by a case of “acute gastroenteritis” for many athletes, which was picked up at training camp in Thailand.

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Phelps and Lochte’s criticism had also evoked a clapback from current American swimmer Lilly King, who tagged them on social media after a medal-winning night in Singapore and wrote: “You have been real quiet tonight.”

To this, Phelps wrote: “We should be so proud of how the team swam as a whole …. Right? Apologies for having higher expectations for the leadership of the team. My opinions were way off. USA Swimming has what they finally want, me to ‘stay in my lane’. They will continue to help the kids reach childhood dreams by their continued support.”