Michael Phelps motivated by big ears, no plastic surgery

August 18th, 2008, 9:45 am · Post a Comment · posted by Colin Stewart

Photos: Above, Michael Phelps, age 23, earlier today in Beijing. Below right, Michael Phelps at age 15.

The big ears of Michael Phelps, which he never had plastic surgery to pin back, may have helped him become a record-smashing Olympic swimmer.

He was determined to prove that he could succeed, despite physical limitations and the challenge of an ADHD learning disability, his mother says.

His ears were a frequent subject of teasing for Phelps as a boy, she recalls.

“He was a very tall glass of water, a string bean,” Debbie Phelps said in an ABC News interview. “He was a very tall kid, and he was very awkward. His ears were a little big. People would tease him, which was very difficult for Michael.”

Phelps “speaks of the immense hurt he was caused for his ears and how he used it as motivation to become the greatest Olympian,” says The Mercury in South Africa, which describes him as “Michael Phelps, superstar. What grace; what style; and what a set of magnificent ears.”

Phelps was sensitive enough about teasing that he snubbed other swimmers who taunted him, The Independent of London says:

His mother, Debbie, suggests the water was one refuge from the taunting he received as a boy. She remembers how he emerged from a school swim meeting in tears. Two members of the opposing team had baited him relentlessly about the size of his ears.

Some years later, when he had qualified for the Sydney Olympics, one of them came to congratulate him. He was cut dead when he said, “Remember me? I swam against you.” Phelps replied, “I don’t seem to recall who you are.”

His mother reports that he knew well enough and his coach, Bob Bowman, says, “You might not think it, but everything that comes up Michael uses for motivation – and look where it’s taken him.”

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