Michael Phelps taking different training approach in swimming comeback

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Phelps has slowly started back and now trains just once a day in the afternoon. No double or triple sessions or plowing through thousands of meters a day.

Call this comeback Phelps 2.0.

While his workload will go up eventually, for now Phelps is doing half the amount of training he did during the height of career, when he won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I’m sort of experimenting with stuff that I didn’t have the guts to do before, like not swim as far,” Bowman said. “I’m very pleased with how he’s doing.”

This relaxed approach appears to suit both Phelps and Bowman just fine. Their decades-long partnership — rare in a sport where swimmers frequently change coaches — survived fiery clashes as Phelps grew up and rebelled against Bowman’s hard-nosed ways.

“Our last several years together, it really wasn’t much fun for everybody,” the coach said.

Photo by Vironevaeh