This week Michael Phelps was arrested, allegedly clocked doing 85 miles per hour in a 40 zone while twice the legal blood alcohol limit.
These very serious allegations were quickly followed up with an apology via Phelps’ Twitter account.
It’s not the first scandal Phelps has been embroiled in, nor even the first time he’s been caught driving under the influence.
In 2004 he was caught drink driving as a 19-year-old. Phelps pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was placed on probation, as well as given community service. In 2009 a British tabloid posted a photo of him smoking a bong.
It’s easy to forgive young people for doing stupid things. After all, the stupidity of youth touches just about everyone. However, at 29 Phelps cannot plead the folly of youth.
What Phelps has done is remind us of the dangers of trying to live a life outside of society.
English Renaissance poet John Donne penned the immortal line “no man is an island” in 1624. It resonates today as much as it did almost 500 years ago.
By allegedly driving under the influence, Phelps has shown a grave error in judgment. This error is not just driving when he shouldn’t have, but thinking he is an island.
Baltimore is his community. It is this community that he has let down by not following the rules society has developed for the benefit of all.
A driver’s license is a not a right, it is a privilege. Those who hold the privilege of driving are expected to abide by the laws that are designed to protect communities.
As such, the people of Baltimore have not been let down by a swimming role model. They have been let down by one of their citizens.
Society builds athletes up as role models. We forget they are human and we imbue them with the mythological qualities of gods. We deify athletes and then voyeuristically enjoy watching them fall.
But Phelps is not a god.
His achievements in the pool will not be diminished. He will always have 22 Olympic medals, of which 18 are gold. He is still the greatest Olympian of all time.
He is also very human.
The lesson here lays in the fallacy that even the greatest Olympian of all time can live outside of his society. This is the lesson of Michael Phelps’ arrest.
We have been reminded that no man (or woman) is an island. We are all responsible for our actions and we are accountable to the society we live in.
Terry Fahey
Guest
What a dead set drop kick. He needs to go to jail for a long, long time before he kills an innocent person or two.
Kate Smart
Guest
Yeah, I think swimming was an outlet for his ADHD. I'm not psych trained but I believe there are studies into relationships between ADHD and alcohol, gambling, risk taking behaviour etc. Not that that is an excuse. Also I think this will be treated as a first offence. He was fined & put on probabation for DUI 10 years ago. He hasn't had an offence in the last 5 years. But yes, we can't underestimate the stupidity of his actions and just how horrific this could actually have been is too awful to think about. Thanks for the comment!
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
It's a real shame that he keeps getting himself into these types of situation, and you're right in saying that he's let everyone in his city down, along with his countless fans around the world. Am I correct in thinking that Phelps is affected by some kind of ADHD? I seem to remember reading somewhere that swimming was the only thing his mother could get him to do that would tire him out and make him more manageable and easy to control... I'm also guessing/assuming (without any evidence incidentally) that he is currently off training at the moment after his Pan-Pacs performance, so having a little break before next season. I'm certainly not making any excuses for him, but the fact that he does keep doing these types of things, and they seem to occur when it would make sense that he would be off training for a little bit, might be related to his ADHD...?
Kate Smart
Expert
That should be a BAC of .14. I think anyone, greatest Olympian or not would be dead with a BAC of 1.4! Sorry about that.
Kate Smart
Expert
Hi Kevin, it's been reported this morning that Phelps had a blood alcohol reading of 1.4 and Maryland's limit is .08. That's a long way over the legal limit. I've seen another piece arguing he should be banned for a year. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on that too. Thanks again for the comment.
Kevin dustby
Guest
The legal limit in the usa is quite high as well