Michael Phelps had fans cheering him on at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center Friday morning.
Kathy Thorne of Winston Salem said “He should be a little bit smarter in his actions but I mean, everybody is human and they make mistakes,”
Phelps had been sidelined because of a tabloid photo in which he is seen smoking a marijuana pipe. The Olympic gold medalist has apologized calling the incident a “mistake.”
Phelps was not the fastest man during preliminary competition Friday morning but qualified to the finals.
Phelps told the press after his events “I'm happy to be back, happy to be racing again,” .
said 6-year-old Bryson Byrns of Fort Mill “I'm here to see a great swimmer.”
Phelps drew fans from nearby South Carolina and competitors from as far as Colombia, South America.
'It’s crazy,' said Colombian swimmer Mateo DeAngulo. “You think you’re good and then you step up against the best in the world. I don't get scared because you already know you're going to get beat.”
Before the race, behind the scenes, Phelps had to overcome a wardrobe malfunction.
“When I pulled my suit, I felt a little hole in the top part of my suit,” revealed Phelps after competition. “So I started laughing at that. I was hoping it wasn't going to rip when I bent down to start.”
