Michael Phelps is Subway's new pitch man

Indianapolis - It was lunchtime at a downtown Subway, but customers found themselves locked out. That's because the chain's newest pitchman was out of the pool and on his way.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps stopped by for commercial footage and to learn the basics of sandwich-making from Indy's own Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle.

It was a rare time-out for an athlete hoping to once again make waves, this time in the USA Swimming nationals held at the IU Natatorium this week.

Phelps has a fondness for meatball subs and Indianapolis. He made his first Olympic team here in 2000.

"The crowd is always amazing. People are cool and one of the coolest things is the crowd here is always yelling and screaming and the cheering makes it more exciting and you swim faster," Phelps said.

Phelps works out five hours a day, six days a week, and consumes upwards of 7,000 calories a day.

As for what Phelps does when he isn't swimming or eating, "I just hang out and veg. It's pretty low key," he said.

Whether he's in the pool or out of it, Phelps always draws a crowd.

"I work upstairs and people told me Michael helps was downstairs. I have no shame. I put my face up against the glass," said Meredith Smith.

"I thought it wasn't real. It's like, hey, Michael Phelps is walking out of subway," said a teenage boy.

Laid back and relaxed out of the pool, the superstar swimmer hopes his celebrity helps the sport and inspires kids.

"The biggest thing is dream big and never give up. Growing up I wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist and it didn't matter what pushed in my way - I went through ups and downs and I put my mind to it," he said.

As for other things, we had to ask: Is he dating anyone?

"That's part of my personal life. You guys know everything. I gotta keep something to myself!" he said, smiling.

The USA Swimming Nationals start Tuesday and runs through Saturday July 11th.

Every day:
Doors open at 7:30a.m.
Preliminaries start at 9:00a.m. immediately followed by Time Trials.
Athlete Autograph Sessions in the Gym are at 4:30 p.m. up until the Finals which begin at 6 p.m.

Click here for the competition schedule and ticket prices.

The following is the TV broadcast schedule for the ConocoPhillips National Championships/World Championship Team Trials:

• Tuesday, July 7

6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Universal Sports (Live)

• Wednesday, July 8

6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Universal Sports (Live)

• Saturday, July 11

1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
NBC (Taped)

• Sunday, July 12

2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
NBC (Taped)

Also, all Prelims and Finals sessions will be webcast live on Swimnetwork.com. Swimnetwork will also be hosting a "pre-game show" each evening as an in-venue and webcast lead-up to the finals.

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