Michael Phelps has caused a stir by rejoining the US anti-doping drug test program, but his coach, Bob Bowman, cautions fans not to become too excited about his 2016 Olympic prospects.
Bowman told USA Today and the Baltimore Sun that the 18-time Olympic champion and 22-medal winner -- both record medal hauls -- has not yet determined whether or not he even wants to undertake the work and training needed for a competitive effort in a fifth career Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in August of 2016.
"There are no definite plans to return to competition at this time," Bowman told the Sun.
"What we're doing is kind of letting him have his options," he told USA Today.
"He came back this fall and started to do some training with the group, mainly just to get in shape. He just felt like he was not fit. He wasn't. He has occasionally been training. He's picked it up a little more.
"We were just thinking about it, and I said, 'You know, you're getting in pretty good shape. Maybe you want to swim in a meet?' He said, 'Well, maybe at some point'."
Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, would not be eligible to compete under world governing body FINA rules until next March, needing at least nine months in drug test programs.
But that would give him plenty of time ahead of next year's Charlotte UltraSwim, a popular season-starter for Phelps in recent years.
That would also allow time to train for next August's US swim championships in Irvine, California, and even more time to be in shape for the 2015 world championships in Russia, the last major global tuneup event ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
"We don't have anything picked out. We don't have anything planned," Bowman told USA Today. "I don't think we have designs on Rio at this time, but I want to give him a chance to get back into competition if he would like to."
Phelps has boosted his training sessions from two or three a week to four or five a week.
"If we can get him up to 10 times a week, that's when I'd be comfortable with him swimming in a meet," Bowman said. "When Michael swims in a meet, there's a certain expectation. We are far from there right now.
"So that's why I would like to caution everyone to keep expectations a little lower until you see him in a meet. ... Right now, he's pretty far from being ready to swim in a meet."
Phelps, 28, would be 31 at the Rio Olympics. Bowman called his increased training more of a fitness issue than a first stroke toward Rio.
"I think it was first off an itch to get fit. I don't think he liked how he felt," Bowman said. "Golf just doesn't give you the same kind of fitness level. It's probably more fun sometimes -- maybe all the time."
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