Michael Phelps will not be tempted out of retirement to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Games but the most decorated Olympian of all time is optimistic the US swimming team can succeed in his absence.
The 32-year-old, who won 23 Olympic gold medals, said on Friday that he does not want to compete at a sixth Games as he has already achieved everything he set out to accomplish in the sport.
He maintains, however, that he could return to his dominant form in time for Tokyo if he wanted to.
"I will not be competing in Tokyo, no," he said.
"I just have zero desire. I think I could. I think it would be easier to come back this time around if I chose to, but I really don't have any goals to make me want to come back.
"I'm very happy with where I ended up in my career and I'm sure 20 years down the road I'll be able to look back and say I hung my suit up at the perfect time."
Phelps said the US will still be favourites to top the swimming medal table in Tokyo and pointed to five-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel, who has won two Olympic golds, as reasons to believe the team is in good hands.
"It has been very promising the last two years to see Katie just continue to plough through records and prove her dominance in the freestyle events worldwide," he said.
"She's probably already proven that she's the greatest female swimmer ever. And Caeleb has really been swimming well short-course and he had a great meet last year at the worlds," he said.
"The US team is always probably going to be No.1 or No.2. We have a very good tradition of excellence where we always find a way to get it done when we need to."
