Where is Michael Phelps' Father? Dad, Fred Phelps Shuns Spotlight to Keep Media Focus in Son

Michael Phelps' father, Fred Phelps, has been spoken about prominently in light of his son's amazing feats at the London 2012 Olympic Games. However, even though many would have expected to see him in the stands at the Aquatics Center in London cheering on his son, the reality is that he has been a lot more hidden.

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Fred Phelps has worked for the Maryland State Police, and he parted company with Michael's mother in 1993 when Michael was just nine years old. They became distanced, but have since come to a closer relationship, although one would not exactly call them particularly close.

Fred has remarried since his split with Michael's mother and now lives in Baltimore.

In 2004 Fred and Michael had a brief reconciliation at the Athens Olympic Games, where Phelps won 6 gold and 2 bronze medals. However, in Beijing in 2008 he didn't travel to China to watch, preferring to catch up on his son's record breaking feats on the television.

Although he did not attend the Beijing Games in 2008, father Fred did state the following in an interview around that time, according to One India News: "I'm very proud of him and all he's done. This is not about me, it's about him."

Since that time Phelps' father has kept a low profile and prefers not to allow his disjointed relationship with his son distract the world from his son's amazing achievements.

So even though his son has been sweeping the medals at London 2012 across swimming events Fred Phelps has not been a prominent person, and has seemingly attempted to keep as low a profile as possible to let his son claim all the limelight without him becoming a distraction.

However, wherever he was we're sure Fred must have been proud once again as son Michael Phelps won again on Saturday - his 22nd Olympic medal overall, and 18^th gold. The race was his farewell event to the Olympic Games, and he has now retired.