One year removed from the 2012 London Olympics, many people have started looking ahead to the 2016 Rio games.
And while there's a lot to be excited for when it comes to Team USA, the one question on everyone's mind concerns an athlete who says he won't be competing.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, officially retired after the London Games. But at least one of his competitors thinks he'll soon be back in the pool.
Ryan Lochte, he of the partying and the reality show, told USA Today that he thinks Phelps' return is imminent.
"I think we all know by now that he's coming back," Lochte said of Phelps. "I don't think it's really a surprise. It's just a matter of when is he going to get back in the full swing of training."
Lochte is in Indianapolis for the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships. Phelps is absent from the meet for the first time since 1999.
Phelps recently posted a photo of him in the pool with his longtime trainer, Bob Bowman, leading some to believe that he is preparing for a comeback. But Bowman told the New York Times that Phelps has taken to the pool to lose some weight.
Could getting back in the water stoke Phelps' competitive spirit? Perhaps, but despite what Lochte says, the only person who truly knows wether Phelps is returning is the man himself.
“I don’t discount anything,” Bowman told the New York Times of a possible comeback for his star pupil. “I'll believe it when I see it. Physically, I think he could. But I just haven’t seen any indication that he is interested."
(H/T to Larry Brown Sports)
