Michael Phelps enjoying the challenge of trying to master golf
Olympic legend has set his sights on mastering the golf course after retiring from swimming
There was a strange air of smug satisfaction rising from the galleries at last week's Mission Hills World Celebrity Pro-Am in Hainan as the game of golf reduced Michael Phelps to the role of mere mortal.
History's greatest swimmer might be the most natural thing mankind will ever put into a pool but back on dry land Phelps was finding things were not going all his own way.
After three days experiencing the peaks and troughs of the game that are all too familiar to so many of us, Phelps walked off the course after Sunday's final round, took a long drink of water - and let out an even longer sigh.
"It's very frustrating," says Phelps. "I am someone who's very hard on myself and when I don't reach the expectations and the goals that I want to, it messes with me a little bit. Hopefully, I am able to build off this. I was able to work a bunch on the range and a couple of holes so hopefully I can transition that into a better performance down the road."
The decision to walk away from swimming after the London Olympics this summer might have left Phelps with a mantlepiece showcasing a record 18 gold medals (and a record 22 overall) but it has also left a huge hole in his life.
Pounding out the laps in training, meticulously planning every aspect of every day around swimming had been part and parcel of the American's world since he was seven years old.