Michael Phelps once lost a swim race to Kim Kardashian's ex-husband
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Michael Phelps never had to play against a defense, but he still needed rivals to mold him into the legendary swimmer that he became. Counted among those who have pushed Phelps to greatness is Milorad “Shouldn’t have cut my finger nails” Cavic, Chad “This crow tastes delicious” le Clos and Kris Humphries.
Yeah, that Kris Humphries.
The Atlanta Hawks forward, and former Mr. Kim Kardashian, was a master in the pool before he ever stepped onto a basketball court. Humphries competed at the national level at 10 years old, and left several other swimmers in his wake.
One of those swimmers was a skinny kid from Baltimore named Michael Phelps.
The gap from 1 to 2 is about the same as the gap from 2 to 16. ???? https://t.co/gUOjQ1CsXh pic.twitter.com/G3NipJ2jEj
— KL Chouinard (@KLChouinard) August 15, 2016
In his youth, Humphries clocked the fastest times nationally in six different events: the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter butterfly, 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter breaststroke and 200-meter individual medley.
At his peak, Humphries held three national records for his age bracket. His records for the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle lasted more than 18 years. Those records have since fallen, but he still holds 12 age-bracket records in his home state of Minnesota.
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Much to Phelps’ fortune, Humphries got tired of dominating him and the field. Humphries decided to concentrate on basketball after he burnt out on swimming. An 11-year NBA career, millions of dollars and one nationally televised marriage later, he doesn’t seem to regret this move too much.
With his fiercest boyhood bully out of the way, Michael Phelps was cleared to become the greatest swimmer of all time, piling up a record 23 gold medals and 28 total medals from the Olympics. However, he could not have gotten there without having to chase a man that is better known for burping in Kim Kardashian’s face than averaging 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the NBA.
You’re welcome, Michael.
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