THE king and queen of the pool, Michael Phelps and Stephanie Rice, made no secret of their delight at a chance meeting when they bumped into each other in the water at Rome's Foro Italico.
Phelps and Rice are preparing to defend their positions as the world's top male and female swimmers at the world championships, starting tomorrow, but took a moment yesterday to hug each other and have a chat, when the US and Australian teams trained together for the first time since arriving on Wednesday.
The obvious friendliness between the two swimmers at a Speedo function in Beijing after the Olympics finished last August excited much speculation about a possible romance between the pair.
Gossip columnists reported that the two had been spotted kissing at a party as they celebrated their Olympic triumphs.
Phelps, 24, won a record eight gold medals at the Games to become the most decorated Olympian in history, while Rice, 21, made a perfect Olympic debut, winning three gold medals, all in world-record time.
At the time both denied that there was anything but friendship between them and they chatted happily while photographers snapped their reunion in the main pool yesterday.
Rice has twice visited Phelps's hometown of Baltimore since Beijing, but said it was Phelps's training partner Katie Hoff who she had gone to visit.
Hoff is one of Rice's biggest rivals in the individual medley, although the American has had a tough year since the Olympics and will not compete in Rome. However, they have formed a close friendship outside the pool.
"Katie and I are probably best friends," Rice said recently.
"I talk to her every second day and we keep in great touch.
"She is probably the first person that I have become really good friends with that is also a strong competitor of mine."
Rice begins her campaign with the 200m individual medley tomorrow.
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