This Q&A occurred during a teleconference announcing him as the 2004 United States Olympic Committee SportsMan of the Year.

Q1: How are things in Ann Arbor? What’s the college life like up there?

MICHAEL PHELPS: It’s definitely different being back in class. It’s good. I’m just taking two classes to get back into the swing of things. I had to do my first real college assignment the other day, so hopefully that went well. It’s definitely a new atmosphere, both in the classroom and in the pool. I’m getting used to training with a bunch of new guys, but things are going better than we thought. I had a meet a week ago. Bob and I predicted two seconds slower than I swam, so I guess things are on the right track. I’m just enjoying myself and getting back in the normal routine.

Q2: What was the assignment on?

MICHAEL PHELPS: It was a 3-5 minute speech just to sort of get to know everyone in the class. It was "college show and tell" – that’s how the professor put it. We pretty much had to come in and bring something in, explain about it. One of my biggest things I’ve been proud of so far is winning an Olympic gold medal, and that’s what I wanted to come in and talk about.

Q3: Did you bring the whole pile of them?

MICHAEL PHELPS: No I just brought one. I only have one. I haven’t seen any of the other ones since the Games. My agent has all of them. He’s keeping an eye on them for me.

Q4: What’s your first competition back?

MICHAEL PHELPS: I swam at a meet – Michigan swam Northwestern two weekends ago. I swam a few exhibition races. But I am going to be swimming in a meet the first weekend of March in Texas at the University of Texas. Then, Nationals are going to be first weekend of April. That’s the big thing. That’s the meet we’re gearing up for now.

Q5: First year in college is typically an exciting time for most freshmen, but considering your year last year, I would suspect it’s somewhat of a comedown. Can you talk about your motivation and how you’re handling getting excited about going forward?

MICHAEL PHELPS: One of the things I’m actually excited about is going back to school. That’s the first time in my life, really, that I’ve been excited to go to school and to continue that part of my life. This is an opportunity to start the second part of my life, and I’m going to take it.

Q6: Obviously this is a tremendous honor, and given your performance in Athens, it would be hard to imagine anyone else who could have gotten it among the men. On the other hand, you had that – I’ll call it an incident – at the end of the year. Did you wonder if you might push yourself out of contention for this type of thing?

MICHAEL PHELPS: With what has happened, it has been a learning experience and a big mistake that I’ve made. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I am extremely honored to win this award. You look at all of the great athletes who could have won, and I’m definitely in a line of some of the greatest athletes in the world. Really being able to have an opportunity to win this award is an honor.

Q7: Did your speech include a discussion of your 2008 plans?

MICHAEL PHELPS: It didn’t. It was only 3-5 minutes, so didn’t want to get points deducted by going over. My 2008 plans are, well I’m back in the water right now. I’m pretty much back to 100 percent after being out of the water and having a small set-back with my back. Other than that, things are going really well right now. I swam a 200 IM last week, and I went 1:43.0, which is two-tenths off the American record. My coach, Bob, and I were talking about going 1:45 or 1:46. I hit the wall and saw 1:43, so I think things are going pretty well right now. If I just keep things going, hopefully 2008 will be an even better summer than 2004.

Q8: Which medal did you bring in?

MICHAEL PHELPS: I can’t tell you. I can’t read Greek. I saw 200m, so it’s 200 meters. It’s either the butterfly or the IM. They asked me, and I had no idea what it was.

Q9: It doesn’t look like Ian Thorpe is going to be swimming this year in the World Championships. It’s sort of a low year for a lot of swimmers. Why did you pretty much get right back into the water and somewhat of a full competition schedule?

MICHAEL PHELPS: One of the things Bob and I like is to be is in a routine. If we’re in a routine, things are good. I think getting back into the routine was something that was important to us. If I’m swimming and I’m going to school, then that’s really all I’m doing. That’s what I want to do. I’m ready to compete again. We had our goal meeting the other day to talk about things I want to accomplish this year, next year and years to come, so there are already goals that are set for the next four years, and we’re starting to work for those.

Q10: Can you elaborate on the events you’re planning on swimming at the World Championship Trials in April?

MICHAEL PHELPS: We’re going to start swimming some new events, I’ll say that. We’re going to open up some new doors and see where events take us. One of the things I’m doing as a person is growing and starting to get some more muscle. Hopefully that will give me a little extra power that I didn’t have last summer. Hopefully with that and being able to train up here with Peter Vanderkaay and Klete (Keller), some of those guys who are back in the water, hopefully all of us will be able to do something over the next year or two.

Q11: Are we talking sprints here?

MICHAEL PHELPS: I don’t know. The events I’m more than likely going to swim at World Champ Trials are events I have swam before, but we’re trying to take a more serious approach to some of those events. There’s one race that I’m really focused on right now. On the event program, there’s two events from last summer, and that’s it. We’re not planning on doing anything as big as this summer, but it’s enough that things will be challenging and keep me excited.

Q12: And how many are on that schedule?

MICHAEL PHELPS: We’re not quite sure. We know of about three or four individuals. We’re still up in the air about a few, but we have a pretty good idea. We’ll just have to see how things keep going and how training goes. I think right now once we go down to Texas and get a good feel for things, after that meet, we’ll be ready to decide.