Swimming lessons were obviously part of the program for Michael Phelps' kids.
So it was no surprise when his pregnant wife Nicole Phelps recently shared a photo of sons Boomer, 7, and Beckett, 5, in... soccer uniforms?
"Maybe there's football in our future," she captioned the snap of her eldest boys in full-on Leeds United kits, both wearing No. 23 in honor of their dad's career gold medal tally.
But it's always been their way to let Boomer, Beckett and Maverick, 4, explore their own interests—and, rest assured, they do spend lots of time in the pool at their sprawling Arizona home.
"It's so cool watching them just grow up, because it happened so fast," the athlete told NBC News in 2020, explaining why he relished the little things, such as Boom and Becks being old enough to grab their own berries from the fridge. "Somebody told me to never blink an eye and I don't know where the time has gone. But I'm trying to enjoy every minute as I can, and it's awesome."
That may sound par for the course. But the swimming star, whose eponymous foundation champions physical and mental well-being as well as water safety practices, has been open about the fact that enjoying any moment can be a real struggle for him sometimes.
"My dark days look like dark days, they look like I want to climb into a black hole and be left alone," Michael explained to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in January 2022. "There are times where I feel like I am all alone."
The 38-year-old has credited therapy, journaling and head-clearing dips in the pool with keeping his mental health on an even keel when the going gets especially tough, but his "biggest support system" is easily Nicole, his wife of seven years.
"She's been with me through the good, bad, the ugly," Michael said. "She's seen every which side of me and we love each other to death. So being able to always have a hand through the pandemic, when I was struggling as much as I was, was a life saver."
Considering they also had three little boys running around... there's got to be a gold medal for that, too, right?
In a 2022 essay for Mother.ly, Nicole described the impossibility of keeping it together 24/7 during lockdown, making it more important than ever for she and Michael to pass the baton back and forth, ensuring the other could come up for air when need be.
"So we worked as a team," the former Miss California USA explained, "trading off time with the kids for 'me' time, workouts in the gym, or catching up with a friend or therapist."
They also took the opportunity to share some of Daddy's coping mechanisms with the boys, such as the tension-releasing lion's breath.
"It's just a deep breath," Michael said on TODAY in January 2021. "And at times, if they're feeling super-high anxiety or if they're frustrated, you let out a gigantic roar. You know, there is a lot of roaring in the house at times."
He and Nicole have been honest with their boys about what depression means, not wanting them to misinterpret whatever might be going on with their father if he needs a mental health timeout. Or, as he has put it, he can't fill his family's cup if his is only half-full.
"I'm very vocal and making sure that the kids are aware that maybe Michael's having a rough day and that [they] didn't do something that made Daddy feel this way," Nicole said. "It's Daddy having his own stuff."
Keeping the communication flowing is the name of the game in the Phelps household, but so is just spending quality time together, as evidenced by recent photos from Maverick's Sept. 9 birthday party (they may snack on berries but they celebrate with cupcakes), a trip to the San Diego Zoo and date night for Michael and Nicole at the World Series (where he threw out the first pitch, incidentally).
And not only is their family thriving, it's growing.
"The sweetest thing is how genuinely excited the boys are to meet their brother," Nicole told Today.com after sharing in an Oct. 30 Instagram post that she was pregnant with their fourth child. "Having four boys will be crazy but wonderful."
And yes, thank you, she has fielded plenty of comments of the you-must-want-a-girl variety.
"I would have loved to have a daughter for Michael so he could have that father-daughter bond that I experienced growing up," the 38-year-old said. "But I strongly believe you're given what you're supposed to have, and I'm really excited to have another boy."
It wasn't planned, she noted, but "he's the bonus we didn't know we needed."
Speaking of being given what you're supposed to have, Nicole met her future husband at the 2007 ESPYs when, as an intern for ESPN, the USC graduate was assigned to cover the swimming phenom who'd won six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
They started dating and were together when Michael added eight more gold medals to his name at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But the athlete was still many meters short of being ready to present Nicole with her own round piece of precious metal, and they broke up later that year.
They reunited toward the end of 2010, but that didn't last, either. According to the account the couple shared with Sports Illustrated in 2015, Nicole sent her ex a solitary congratulatory text during the 2012 London Olympics, where he earned four golds and two silvers in the course of becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 career medals.
Michael also signaled his intent to retire after London, saying, "I finished my career the way I wanted to. I think that's pretty cool."
But what a difference four years makes.
Not only did he unretire and glide through the water with the greatest of ease at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, adding five gold medals and a silver to further cement his place in the history books, it was also Nicole and then-3-month-old Boomer who were front and center in his cheering section.
Before they became a family of three, however, Michael had some making up to do. He told Nicole in the spring of 2013 that he wanted to get back together, but when she was skeptical of his intentions, he called her mom, Annette Johnson, to impress how serious he was.
Nicole went to visit Michael in his hometown of Baltimore in the summer of 2014. "We missed each other," she explained to SI. "We had both had different relationships, but we never found anybody who understood each other the way we did."
By then they were both in it to win it, but there were still harrowing times ahead. Michael was arrested for DUI in September 2014, after which he checked into The Meadows treatment center in Arizona. (That December he pleaded guilty to drunk driving and was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and 18 months of supervised probation.)
In hindsight, "I was just running away," Michael told CNN. "I didn't know how to ask for help, I didn't know who to ask for help, I was just doing whatever I could to try to maybe message and sign that I needed help."
But during those first few days after his 2014 arrest, "I didn't want to be alive," he recalled, noting that he was glad he was almost out of Ambien at the time. "I was very lucky that I only had a few pills left. Because who knows what would have happened?"
Michael emerged from a month of rehab, however, with a new lease on life.
"For me being able to go through the journey that I've gone through, to be able to look at myself in the mirror and like who I see, it's been hard, it's been challenging for sure," he said. "But it saved my life. And I'm able to now have three kids, have a family, and like who I am."
In March 2015, Michael and Nicole were driving back from her grandmother's funeral in Pueblo, Colo., to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs when their song, John Legend's "All of Me," came on the radio. Michael had the ring on him, so he pulled over and took the opportunity to propose, resulting in their Instagram engagement announcement featuring the pair lying in the snow after he tackled her with excitement.
No one knew it till after the 2016 Rio Olympics, but they legally tied the knot that June in Arizona, so they were already husband and wife during the Games.
"Boomer's last name was Phelps and Nicole's was Johnson, and that was going to make overseas travel more difficult," Michael explained to SI at the end of 2016. "We were getting married anyway, so we just did it."
They retied the knot in Cabo San Lucas on Oct. 29, 2016, which they count as their actual wedding anniversary, and then re-celebrated their nuptials with a New Year's Eve bash.
And then Michael really did retire, though speculation that he might stage a comeback in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics didn't quit.
"It's good and bad that Michael had to put swimming before us in a lot of instances, but there's also a very high level of understanding on my behalf because he wouldn't be who he is if it wasn't done that way," Nicole told Cosmpolitan.com after Rio. "Now we get to have fun."
Observing how far they'd come, separately and as a couple, Nicole recalled the "bad timing" of the first leg of their romance.
"Michael and I both know that had we tried to have a child and get married in the previous time we were together, it probably would not have ended pretty," she said. "I don't think you can be in a good relationship unless you love yourself to the fullest and you want to help the other person become a better person. We definitely needed that time apart to recognize that about ourselves and to appreciate one another."
And Michael's appreciation for Nicole knows no bounds.
"For 15 years, Nicole has seen me go up and down," he said on TODAY last year. "There's no other person that would be able to support me like she has. She's the glue that holds all of us together."
Added Nicole, "I keep reminding Michael that I'm not here to judge him. I'm here to support him. I'm here to love him. I'm not going to shame him. I'm not going to say you can't feel that way. But just making sure I'm there."
She is, however, going to be a bit preoccupied for awhile, telling Today.com she believes in "pretty much sacrificing two years of my life to this new baby" who's due next year.
But at least she's got her biggest support system in place, too.
"Happy Anniversary to my best friend, hubby and partner thru life," she wrote to Michael last month, posting seven Oct. 29 photos for every year they've been married. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better!"
Keep reading to see more of Michael Phelps' golden family moments:
Boomer Makes a Splash
In 2017, the 15-month-old was immersed in the family business at the Huggies Little Swimmers #trainingfor2032 event in New York put on by the Michael Phelps Foundation.
Fore!
Who needs a golf cart when you can hitch a ride with mom, as 4-month-old Maverick did at a tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January 2020.
Mommy & Me
Beckett enjoyed a shore thing with his mom in July 2020.
The Butterfly Effect
Boomer practiced his "hello, adoring fans" stroke during the Men's 400m individual medley on day one of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials in Omaha, Neb.
Team USA
The Phelps crew sparkled in stars and stripes on the Fourth of July.
Fantasyland
Disneyland is always more grand with grandparents in tow. Nicole called the October 2022 excursion "the best trip I've ever had."
And to All a Good Night
Merry Christmas from all creatures great and small.
Couched in Love
There was plenty of dad to go around, as the boys enjoyed a snuggle with their 6-foot-4 father.
Synchronized Smiling
The Phelps family may not win any synchronized swimming medals, but those golden smiles are priceless.
Getting Their Feet Wet
Who needs a pool when you've got a whole lake?
Roaring Good Times
Boomer, Beckett and Maverick bond in front of the king of all lion statues during their 2023 summer trip to the San Diego Zoo.
Silly Buddies
No running allowed by the pool, but making faces by the jacuzzi is encouraged.
Man of the Hour
Cupcakes took the cake for Maverick's fourth birthday in September 2023.
GOAT Herding
In case you didn't know who they're related to...