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Will swimming in Michael Phelps’s supersuit shave time off your laps?

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:05:39 GMT

The supersuit Michael Phelps will wear at the London Games this summer is a garment to marvel at – although not for the reasons you might think. It is an incredible feat of engineering, one that you can buy and try out for yourself.

Die-hard sport enthusiasts have always been glad to shell out for elite gear, and swimmers looking for a leg up on the competition can now get their hands on the same suits expected to break records at the Olympics, assuming, of course, they can squeeze themselves into it.

The entire FASTSKIN3 Racing System (which includes a hydrodynamic cap and goggles) makes the kind of scientific boasts made when talking about rockets or sports cars in wind tunnels. Speedo unveiled the system in November and began shipping orders this year. Its space-age design is certainly good news for athletes fighting to gain even a millisecond advantage over the competition. But for mere mortals who buy one of the super-elite systems, which retails for $535, the first wide-eyed moment of wonder will come when they take the suit out of its box and hold it up to their bodies. This is a compression garment like no other.

“They look like they’re for the baby,” my wife said of the trunks as I held them up. Which brings us to the gloves. Every FASTSKIN3 swimsuit comes with a pair of them – thin white cotton gloves with rubberized finger tips. They’re not meant to improve your front crawl – they’re meant to help you pull the suit on.

U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has said the suit makes him feel “superhuman.” Typical recreational swimmers might feel more like 200 pounds of ground beef being squeezed into a sausage casing. Putting the suit on requires patience.

“It is a bit of a wrestle to get it up your body,” says Dr. Tom Waller, head of Speedo’s Aqualab, the company’s research and development facility. “The first time you put it on [it will take] 15 to 20 minutes, the second time five to 10.” By the third, fourth and fifth time, “Most people can get it [on] in around five minutes.”

If taking 15 minutes to squeeze into a swimsuit doesn’t sound like a lazy day at the pool, well, it’s not meant to be. And though getting it on may be an Olympian effort in itself, the results may prove revolutionary.

Consider the system’s highlights: It has been shown to achieve a 16.6 per cent reduction in full body passive drag, an 11 per cent improvement in a swimmer’s oxygen economy, meaning they don’t need to work as hard and a 63.4 per cent reduction of force on the goggle, a major factor for pros because the force on some goggles can be equal to having two Coke cans on each lens, Dr. Waller says.

And then there are more practical features, such as the fact that the goggles, shiny numbers that will make you look like you’ve swum in from the future, provide 180-degree peripheral vision, which anyone doing the backstroke in crowded lanes will surely appreciate.

Combined, the system is a revolutionary product, designed to improve upon Speedo’s LZR Racer, which dominated the Beijing Olympics – 86 per cent of all swimming medals were worn by athletes wearing the suit – but that was subsequently banned in 2010 by FINA, international swimming’s governing body, for making swimmers more buoyant.

With swimmers no longer allowed to wear polyurethane and neoprene suits during competition, the FASTSKIN3, which spent three years in development, is made predominantly with a fabric called Hydro K-Zone 3D.

“It’s a revolutionary new way of making fabric whereby we’re able to position varying amounts of Lycra around the body so that we can compress where we want to and not compress where we don’t want to,” Dr. Waller says.

Michael Phelps Will ‘Never’ Shave His Head

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:21:44 GMT

Daily chlorine exposure wreaks havoc on star swimmer Michael Phelps’s hair. “It feels dead at times,” he admits to PEOPLE. But dealing with dry scalp issues isn’t enough to make the Olympian go to extremes.

“I would never shave my hair, zero shot,” he says. “If it falls out then it falls out. But I could never actually take a razor to my head and BIC it. I just couldn’t imagine it. I couldn’t see myself without hair.”

Luckily he won’t need to resort to shaving anytime soon: Phelps is the face (and, um, scalp) of the Head & Shoulders “Wash in Confidence” campaign, designed to boost self-esteem through healthy hair. “Head & Shoulders really helps re-moisturize my head, my hair and my scalp,” the athlete says. “It feels good, it feels clean.”

Phelps’s face is on select bottles of Head & Shoulders now, a part of the campaign he calls “kind of weird, strange and cool. I never imagined I’d be on the front of a shampoo bottle.” But he’s happy to be a spokesman for the brand, especially going into the 2012 London summer Olympics.

“Over the last eight months to a year, this is probably the happiest I’ve been since Beijing,” he admits. “I feel confident, I’m excited, I’m training, and I feel like I’m heading in the right direction to be able to accomplish my goals.”

Though the swimmer confirms that these will be his final Olympic games — “I always told myself I would never swim past the age of 30,” the 26-year-old explains — he’s looking forward to accomplishing a lot out of the pool through his Michael Phelps Foundation.

“I’m helping kids live healthy and active lifestyles, and learning how to swim is something I think all kids need,” he says. “It’s fun for me to always be around kids, have them smiling and enjoying themselves, and teaching them that they can do anything they set their minds to.”

Michael Phelps grows in confidence as London looms

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:44:59 GMT

The clock is starting to tick faster for Michael Phelps. The London Olympics are drawing closer and the American swimmer knows that time is running out on his golden career. Not so long ago, Phelps was measuring the countdown to his final Olympic appearance in years. Then it was months, then weeks. Now it is days.

"Not long now, it's less than 170 days now," he told Reuters during a visit to New York City for the global launch of Head and Shoulders' "Wash In Confidence" campaign. For Phelps, the countdown will soon come down to hours then minutes, although his success will ultimately be judged by fractions of seconds.

In the world of Olympic swimming, gold medals can be decided by margins as tiny as a fingernail, and no one knows that better than Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after surviving two close calls.

Phelps was a member of the U.S. relay that won the 4x100 metre freestyle final by just 0.08 seconds. A few days later, he won the 100m butterfly final by 0.01.

Phelps, who also won six gold medals at Athens in 2004, immediately declared his intention to keep going through to London but initially struggled for motivation. It was only last year, when he lost his crown as the world's premier swimmer to compatriot Ryan Lochte, that he rediscovered the desire to churn through the training laps.

"I'm literally enjoying myself. It's something I haven't been able to do in a long time, over the last three years," he said. "It's the right time to get excited again. I'll be ready. It's going to be a fun six months and I'm going to be as prepared as I can."

Phelps, 26, remains coy about how many events he will swim in London, saying he will decide the magic number on how well he performs in the lead-up to the U.S. Olympic trials in June and July, but said he was feeling confident about his chances.

"I'm in a lot better spot now than I was in any time over the last three years. Physically I'm in better shape, mentally I'm in better shape since Beijing," he told Reuters in an interview at a Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx that he helps fund through his foundation. "I haven't been as serious and conditioned as I have now so now it's just working on all the small things that will make the big difference in the end."

Phelps already ruled out competing in the 400m individual medley, an event he won at Athens and Beijing, but said the toughest race to win in London could be the 4x100m freestyle relay after the U.S. finished third, behind Australia and France, at last year's world championships in Shanghai.

"The 4x100 relay is probably the toughest one," Phelps said. "We just want to be able to put up our fastest guys that we think have the best shot and that's all you could ask for."

Phelps growing in confidence as London looms

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:25:29 GMT

Not so long ago, Phelps was measuring the countdown to his final Olympic appearance in years. Then it was months, then weeks. Now it is days. "Not long now, it's less than 170 days now," he told Reuters during a visit to New York City for the global launch of Head and Shoulders' "Wash In Confidence" campaign.

For Phelps, the countdown will soon come down to hours then minutes, although his success will ultimately be judged by fractions of seconds. In the world of Olympic swimming, gold medals can be decided by margins as tiny as a fingernail, and no one knows that better than Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after surviving two close calls.

Phelps was a member of the U.S. relay that won the 4x100 meter freestyle final by just 0.08 seconds. A few days later, he won the 100m butterfly final by 0.01. Phelps, who also won six gold medals at Athens in 2004, immediately declared his intention to keep going through to London but initially struggled for motivation.

It was only last year, when he lost his crown as the world's premier swimmer to compatriot Ryan Lochte, that he rediscovered the desire to churn through the training laps.

"I'm literally enjoying myself. It's something I haven't been able to do in a long time, over the last three years," he said. "It's the right time to get excited again. I'll be ready. It's going to be a fun six months and I'm going to be as prepared as I can."

Phelps, 26, remains coy about how many events he will swim in London, saying he will decide the magic number on how well he performs in the lead-up to the U.S. Olympic trials in June and July, but said he was feeling confident about his chances.

"I'm in a lot better spot now than I was in any time over the last three years. Physically I'm in better shape, mentally I'm in better shape since Beijing," he told Reuters in an interview at a Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx that he helps fund through his foundation.

"I haven't been as serious and conditioned as I have now so now it's just working on all the small things that will make the big difference in the end."

Phelps already ruled out competing in the 400m individual medley, an event he won at Athens and Beijing, but said the toughest race to win in London could be the 4x100m freestyle relay after the U.S. finished third, behind Australia and France, at last year's world championships in Shanghai.

"The 4x100 relay is probably the toughest one," Phelps said. "We just want to be able to put up our fastest guys that we think have the best shot and that's all you could ask for."

Michael Phelps' mother becomes Subway's newest Famous Fan

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:01:33 GMT

Phelps joins the likes of her swimming star son, Olympic stars Apolo Ohno and Nastia Liukin and NBA player Blake Griffin as Famous Fans of Subway. Debbie Phelp's involvement with Subway kicked off at Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection Fashion in New York. The annual event promotes awareness of heart disease among women, and has been running since 2002.

Subway was participating in the Red Dress show for its second successive year. "We are happy to support the Red Dress event and cause," said Tony Pace, the senior vice-president of Subway's franchisee advertising fund. "In addition to Debbie's role as a mother and educator, she has been trained and actively worked in the field of nutrition which is, of course, essential to heart health."

Debbie Phelps is the author of A Mother for All Seasons, a philanthropist and school principal. "As not only a mother, but also an educator, I have been steadfast in making sure that my children and students understand the importance of leading an active and healthy lifestyle," she said.

"My son has been a part of the Subway restaurant Famous Fan family and the work that they do to promote eating fresh is commendable. "I am thrilled to join the roster and help spread the message, especially tonight at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection Fashion Show."

During the Vancouver Winter Olympics two years ago the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) accused Subway of "ambush marketing practices" regarding a commercial featuring Phelps.

It claimed the sandwich maker was attempting to profit by associating its advert with the Olympics without paying for it. The advert featured Phelps swimming right through the wall of an indoor pool, smashing through the building, leaving streams of concrete in his wake as he stroked across the street.

As he passed a nearby Subway restaurant, the adver stated "Phelps fuels up ... so he can get to where the action is this winter."A map flashed up, appearing to chart the swimmer's route with his final destination seemingly Vancouver.

Phelps using hyperbaric chamber to aid recovery

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:04:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) Michael Phelps is the latest athlete to use a hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery from training. The 16-time Olympic medalist said Wednesday he had been sleeping "at 8,000 feet every night" for almost a year. The 26-year-old swimmer noticed he bounced back from workouts better when he trained at altitude, so he's trying a device that simulates that. "We've been able to realize after going to Colorado Springs so many times that it is something that helps me recover," Phelps said. "That's something that is so important to me now being older. I don't recover as fast as I used to."

He said the chamber looked like a fish tank: "Imagine, like, a bed with a box around it.""It's kind of strange, but it's good," Phelps said during an appearance for sponsor Head & Shoulders. "I don't mind it. There's a giant door at the end of my bed. The worst thing is trying to watch TV in it. I've got to watch it through Plexiglas - it's blurry."Phelps is preparing for what he says will be his final Olympics this summer in London. He won a record eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008.

Hypoxic or hyperbaric tents and chambers are used by many athletes to replicate high-altitude conditions and boost levels of oxygen-rich red blood cells. They have become popular with NFL players trying to speed their recovery from injuries. In 2006, the World Anti-Doping Agency's ethics committee ruled that such chambers enhance performance and violate "the spirit of sport," but the executive committee refrained from adding them to their list of prohibited substances and methods, instead asking for studies to look further into health implications.

Michael Phelps: Passion for swimming has returned

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:42:56 GMT

Attention, swimmers preparing for the Olympics in London this summer: Michael Phelps is back, both mentally and physically.

After winning 16 Olympic medals and being named American Swimmer of the Year eight times between 2001 and 2009, the 26-year-old Phelps has struggled in the pool at times since winning eight medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Ryan Lochte, 27, beat Phelps in both the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter medley at the world championships last year, and some people were questioning how dedicated Phelps has been heading into his final Olympics in July.

Phelps agreed that he had lost his focus for the past few years -- but no more. "My attitude has changed recently and for the better. I'm happy now, and I'm actually excited about going to work out," said Phelps, who has been using a hyperbaric chamber to aid in recovery from training. "That's unusual for me. I wasn't like that for the last Olympics."

On Wednesday, Phelps was in New York to promote his new "Wash in Confidence" campaign for Procter & Gamble's Head & Shoulders shampoo. He already has sponsorships with Speedo athletic wear, Subway, Under Armour and Omega watches.

Phelps didn't divulge which events he'll be swimming in during the Games, saying it's the motivation to get out of bed and into the pool. Will he defend all five individual crowns -- 100-meter butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 400m individually medley -- and the relay crowns of 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley?

"'I will not be answering that question," Phelps said. "It's my motivation to keep it to myself." But Phelps did say he's feeling great about where is mentally as he begins preparing for London in the next few weeks. On Sunday, Phelps heads to Colorado Springs, Colo., to begin a three-week training camp, with the all-important U.S. Olympic trials in June.

"This is the most excited I've been since going into Beijing, and this is the best shape I've been in," Phelps said. "I'm not pulling my hair out being forced to train. I want to get into the water. I've found my passion for it again."

Phelps regains passion as London looms

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:02:31 GMT

NEW YORK: Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps has regained his passion for the sport he dominated in dazzling style at Beijing, and said on Wednesday in an interview he's eager to shine again at the London Games.

Phelps graded himself at "seven out of ten" in his preparations - a big improvement over 2011 but still with "a lot of things that need to change" before the Olympics, which start in London on July 27.

"I'm excited. It's the most excited I've been since going to Beijing," said the 26-year-old, who was in Manhattan for the launch of the "Wash in Confidence" campaign of sponsor Head & Shoulders shampoo.

Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the 2008 Games to take his career total to 14 Olympic golds and two bronze. He said then that he wanted to raise the profile of swimming and he did - but the massive attention proved a double-edged sword when a British tabloid published a photo of him appearing to smoke marijuana.

As the Beijing glow faded, he struggled to find the motivation to train. "It probably took two, two and half years to find it, and it's hard to put the finger on exactly what it was," Phelps said. "There was no passion involved, there was no excitement."

Something clicked, Phelps said, at last year's World Championships in Shanghai. "Something relit the fire and I was able to get motivated, to get ready," he said. In London, an in-form Phelps could surpass the record of 18 Olympic medals won by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina in three Games -- 1956, 1960 and 1964.

"It's crazy because I didn't even know until a week ago when somebody just told me," said Phelps, adding that, as always, he will be working toward the personal goals he has established for himself -- not the record books.

"If I can accomplish these goals, I'm satisfied," he said. "It's not about the medals and the records, it's about 'Did I do everything that I put my mind up to do?'"

Those precise goals, like the exact list of events he will aim for in London, remain private, shared only with his longtime coach, Bob Bowman. "I know what I want to do, but nobody else can know it," he said. "There's only really one person that ever knows my goals and it's my coach. My mom doesn't even know. We are very secretive," he said with a laugh.

On Sunday Phelps plans to head to a three-week training camp in Colorado Springs. June will bring the all-important US Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska. "Everything can happen," Phelps said. "The only thing I'm looking to do is to try to prepare myself as best as I can for that moment and that day."

While 2012 has seen a surge of comeback attempts by veteran swimmers, including Australian Ian Thorpe and American Janet Evans, Phelps definitely sees London as his Olympic swansong.

"It's a good feeling but it's a weird feeling," he said. "But I'm ready to take the next step, try a couple of other goals I have out of the pool."That includes travel - and seeing sights beyond hotel rooms and swimming pools in some of the many cities he has already visited.

It will also include his foundation to promote swimming and a healthy lifestyle and, perhaps most importantly, a chance to be unfettered by the constant demands of training.

As for his new publicity campaign based on the importance of having the confidence to win, Phelps says the support of his sponsors, friends, family and fans "is very special and a big part of my success".

"Michael is an icon not only in the United States but all around the world," said Hanneke Faber, a Procter & Gamble vice president in charge of hair care products, who said the company will make donations to the swimmer's charitable foundation for every "like" the campaign receives on Facebook.

America's next star? Could be anyone BY EDDIE PELLS

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:38:28 GMT

Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Wieber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" - at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics.

With 2012 under way and only six months left before the flame is ignited at opening ceremonies, The Associated Press sent emails to sports agents and executives, public-relations people and others with strong Olympic ties, asking them who America's so-called face of the Olympics would be as the games approach.

Unlike past Olympic cycles, when Phelps or Marion Jones or Bode Miller or Lindsey Vonn were the clear-cut Americans to watch, there was no consensus this time around.

Phelps got the most votes with four, followed by Franklin with three, then Wieber (gymnastics) and Lochte (swimming) with two apiece. The rest of the 16 responses were spread among five athletes: gymnast Nastia Liukin, sprinter Allyson Felix, swimmer Dara Torres and soccer players Abby Wambach and Hope Solo.

That the question produced such a scattered list makes clear that generating buzz for the Olympics will take more this year than simply plastering a single person's face on a 50-foot billboard in Times Square.

"I think we have 10 or 20 athletes who could be that face," said Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "As I sit here today, I don't know who that face is going to be."

The people who received the AP questionnaire were assured their names would be kept confidential, in an attempt to get the most candid answers possible.

They were asked for American athletes only, which precluded them from naming Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who owns world records in the 100 and 200 and could have come close to sweeping the survey if nationality were no factor.

"Clearly, the world will be watching Usain Bolt, for obvious reasons and deserved reasons," said Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, author of "The Complete Book of the Olympics." "Clearly, people will be keeping their eye on Michael Phelps, as a record setter, even if he's not as dominant as he was before."

Phelps already owns more Olympic gold than anyone and needs three more medals of any color to become the most decorated athlete in history. His quest will, of course, be compelling, but it will also be mixed in with his competition against Lochte, who won five gold medals at the 2011 world championships and beat Phelps in their two head-to-head matchups.

If viewing patterns stay similar to what they were in 2008, Phelps vs. anybody in the pool will draw the best ratings. All of NBC's prime time telecasts that drew more than 30 million viewers in 2008 came on nights when swimming was featured. (Track and field didn't fare as well, though most of that coverage was shown on tape delay while most swimming coverage was live.)

"It's an intriguing story," Wallechinsky said of the Phelps-Lochte drama that could develop. "But trying to sell a U.S. versus U.S. rivalry, where the characters don't really hate each other, sometimes that's a little rough. It pains me when, sometimes, you see media pitching a rivalry between two athletes who are actually friends, just for the sake of creating a rivalry."

That's very much the way the 2008 gymnastics competition was fed to the public - Nastia Liukin vs. Shawn Johnson. They battled back and forth in the years leading up to Beijing, and their head-to-head in the Olympic all-around was high theater, barely won by Liukin.

Both are trying to make the 2012 team, but unlike 2008, this year's star isn't permanently affixed to anyone just yet.

Wieber, the 16-year-old world champion is the front-runner to become America's top all-around gymnast, and she already has an appearance on "Ellen" and a deal with Kellogg's as signs of what some people think of her potential. But the health of Rebecca Bross, who was touted as the "next big thing" before injuries derailed her, could still factor into the big picture.

Of course, the U.S. team can't depend on any single athlete to make the Olympics an overall success, though Phelps' eight golds in 2008 certainly helped matters.

Americans have won the most medals at the past four Summer Olympics, but with China and Russia improving and with smaller countries, such as Brazil, Great Britain and Australia, chipping away from the other side, there's a sense that the United States is under more pressure this time.

"The medal count is going to be the medal count," said Alan Ashley, going into his first Olympics as the USOC chief of sport performance. "To us, it's all about how we support the athletes and coaches and help them put their best foot forward when they get to London. If we do our job, then the medal count will take care of itself."

Key to that medal count will be the fate of the track and field team, which won a disappointing 23 medals in Beijing, but improved to 25 at last year's world championships - an upward trend team leaders hope will continue.

Yet finding a singular star from that sport has become difficult, in large part because of the numerous drug scandals that have tainted track over the decades and more or less tagged its top sprinters with a "buyer beware" sign, regardless of their history.

Tyson Gay, possibly America's best sprinter, has no doping issues in his past, but has been hampered with injuries and missed both the finals at the Beijing Games and all of last year's world championships; he didn't garner a single vote in the AP survey. Neither did decathlete Bryan Clay, the defending Olympic champion - a sign of how the clout of the so-called "World's Greatest Athlete" has diminished since the days of Bruce Jenner.

On the women's side, Felix is well-spoken and looks good in magazine shoots, but has been a big factor in her sport for almost a decade now and hasn't connected viscerally with the casual sports fan that makes up a big chunk of the Olympic audience.

"I don't have an explanation for that," Wallechinsky said. "It is a bit odd. There might be some Marion Jones backlash, where they don't want to get burned again, don't want to back a sprinter then have that person test positive at the Olympics. It's one of those things where you can be completely innocent and still be under the shadow of other people's transgressions."

With billions of dollars invested in televising the Olympics, NBC will shape the way most American take in the games. The network, with everything from local affiliates to the web at its disposal, can tell numerous stories on numerous platforms.

Chief Marketing Officer John Miller - the guy who created the catchphrase "Must See TV" - said the network learned a lot when it loaded its pre-Games hype into Bode Miller before the 2006 Olympics, only to watch him turn into a bust on the mountain and a source of controversy off of it.

"We put a significant amount of eggs in that basket," Miller said. "As a result of that, instead of going with one athlete, we decided we had to spread it around a little more. Fortunately, in the Summer Games, we have compelling stories to go after. A lot of them."

In addition to track, gymnastics and swimming, NBC also focuses a lot on beach volleyball, where Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor will go for their third Olympic gold.

"We have enough bandwidth to go after four or five sports in a big way and cover a lot of angles," Miller said.

NBC, he said, has no need to go with one athlete in the lead up. The network invited about 100 athletes out to its pre-Olympic TV shoot in West Hollywood, "because you never know who's going to come out and turn into something big."

In this case, there's no real consensus on who's big before the games, either. The USOC is accepting that fact - trying to embrace the idea of promoting an Olympics with no clear-cut star instead of forcing a single story line.

"It's different from other years because there's not one story there that's bubbled to the top yet," Ashley said. "That's one of the things I love about the Olympics, is that you never really know the answer to that question."

Michael Phelps sports new look with horseshoe moustache

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:19:38 GMT

Michael Phelps was seen sporting some facial hair what is known as a horseshoe moustache as he lounged by the pool in Miami. The Olympic swimmer debuted his new look for the first time on his South Beach break.

The facial hair combined with his untamed brown locks and purple and black striped swimming trunks left the sportsman looking less than his best. The 26-year-old is on a training trip in Miami to prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The gold medalist may have been trying out a new look following his rumoured break-up with former Miss California USA Nicole Johnson. The longtime couple fuelled speculations of a split when they spent New Year’s Eve apart, the Daily Mail reported. Phelps, 26, was reportedly seen celebrating the New Year in New York with six male friends and six women. Neither party has so far confirmed or denied a split. The swimmer and the former beauty queen have been dating off and on for a few years.