MICHAEL Phelps showed he's still a fast mover in the pool, especially when it comes to the ladies as this picture of him embracing Australia's Stephanie Rice shows.
"He did his normal thing we would do after a trip. He did a little bit of fast swimming and it looked pretty good," said Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman.Triple Olympic gold medallist Rice obviously thought so too, warmly returning his warm watery greeting.
Photographers followed Phelp's' every stroke, particularly when he moved in to hug Rice.
The pair famously shared a romantic evening together at a party during the Beijing Olympics where photographers caught the pair getting cosy together in a corner.
Phelps will swim only three individual events in Rome the 200 freestyle, and 100 and 200 butterfly plus all three relays. At this month's U.S. championships, he set a world record in the 100 butterfly, although he pulled out of the 100 free with a sore neck.
"I think things are looking pretty good, so we'll see how it goes," Bowman said.
Phelps, the winner of a record eight gold medals at last summer's Olympics, wore a blue cap, designer sunglasses and headphones. Once on the pool deck, he wrapped a towel around himself and changed into a brief black and green swimsuit, then dove in without a cap.
Rice said she had taken a few tips from the American swimming superstar.
"I've talked with him about how he handles the media," she said.
"I'm grateful to be able to talk about that with him, knowing my mental ups and down from things like that and sort of him seeming so calm about it all. It's good to learn how he handles that pressure and really just focusing on what's important and just letting that other stuff go behind you."
Phelps and the rest of the U.S. squad trained in Riccione on Italy's Adriatic coast for the last week before taking a short flight to Rome.
"Training in Riccione was great," Bowman said. "Where we stayed was great. Everything couldn't have been better."
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