Ripken ready to help Phelps jump into pool business

By Aaron Cahall
Examiner Staff Writer 8/20/08

North Baltimore Aquatic Club Swimmers workout at morning practice at Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Mt. Washington, Thursday, August, 14, 2008. Kristine Buls/Examiner Michael Phelps plans to dive into youth programs when he returns from Beijing, and another Baltimore sports icon, Cal Ripken Jr., is ready to give him some advice.

“When the time is right for Michael, I would be happy to speak with him about what we have done for kids, and assist him in any way he would like,” Ripken said in a statement to The Examiner. “He has made Baltimore very proud, and I, like all of Baltimore, am very excited and happy for him.”

Since retiring in 2001, Ripken has dedicated his time and name brand to minor league and youth baseball, with a new stadium and four youth fields in his hometown of Aberdeen.

Phelps, in an interview Monday night, said he would be involved in the operations of his home swim club, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and seemed to confirm rumors that he had purchased the club’s facility in Baltimore City.

“[Swimming coach Bob Bowman] and I are starting a new business back in Baltimore with the pool that we just bought,” Phelps told NBC’s Brian Williams.

But club founder Murray Stephens said Tuesday that Phelps’ comments were “premature,” and that while Phelps and the club have been in talks, nothing has been finalized.

“We want Bob and Michael to be involved in helping the swimming program grow,” Stephens said. “The what and how of these things have not been finalized at all.”

Ripken was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon, but his spokesman, John Maroon, said Phelps’ involvement with NBAC would “make all the sense in the world,” and urged him to seek out

Ripken’s help with the project.

Maroon cautioned that Phelps and Octagon, the Northern Virginia sports marketing firm that represents him, must work quickly to capitalize on his Olympic performance.

“His people have to remember, with Olympic athletes, it is just a moment,” Maroon said.

For photos of the Baltimore pool, visit baltimoreexaminer.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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