As Olympic medalist Michael Phelps continues to keep up with his busy schedule, especially when it comes to helping out his fiancée, Nicole Johnson, in caring for their baby boy Boomer, the couple has already decided to expand their family by adding more children.
Recently completing his final Olympic swimming event in Rio de Janeiro and bagging six medals, Phelps has expressed his keenness towards having another little tot. After winning his last gold at the games, the professional swimmer made an official statement with regards to his plans of retiring from the sport and home in on raising a family.
“We’ve talked about more [children]. We don’t really know how many more we want,” Phelps said in an interview with People. “We would love a girl. Love, love, love a girl. We wanted a boy first, just in case we did have other children, [so] he could be the protector of his younger sibling or siblings.”
The 31-year-old competitive swimmer also shared his great appreciation for having a “beautiful, healthy baby boy” and his plans to continue raising and expanding their family.
Phelps and Johnson, however, will not be having their second child any time soon.
“I think we’re gonna have some fun with Boomer before we make that next choice of trying for another one,” the swimmer said.
With the Towson native retiring, he said he feels “fulfilled” and was happy of how his final competition turned out.
“It was what I wanted,” Phelps emphasized, adding, “Looking back, it happened exactly how I wanted it to and exactly how it should have. Now I can hang up my suit and be happy with retiring. During the medal ceremonies, I was more emotional than I ever was before. I think that’s just because I was truly happy with where I am and how everything went.”
In Rio, Phelps became the King of the Olympic Games and bagged five gold medals, making a total of 23, achieving more than any other competitor in history. Also winning a silver, he has earned a total of 28 medals from the five Olympics in which he participated.
Phelps’ friend and contended Ryan Lochte believes that the father-of-one will make a comeback at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, Phelps already made it clear that he is finished with competitive swimming.
“I’m done,” he said. “I’m out. See you later. Yeah. No more. Hanging up the competitive suit. Never putting one of those on again.”
Nonetheless, while he looks forward to his retirement, the Team USA swimmer will remain involved in the sport by teaching water safety as well as active sports to young children, as reported by E! News.
Without having to train for the next Olympics, Phelps is expected to spend more time with his family and make preparations for his wedding to Johnson sometime later this year.
According to the former Miss California, she looks forward to a “small and intimate” wedding event with family members and close friends.
As for his three-month-old baby Boomer taking to swimming, Phelps has been open to whatever direction his child will take in the future.
“If he [Boomer] wants to get into swimming, that’s fine. If he doesn’t, I’m fine with that too,” Phelps explained. “I was never pushed as a kid to put more time into the pool, or play other sports. My mom kinda let me make the call and choose what I was gonna do.”
