Michael Phelps Gives His Son a Swim Lesson–and So Baby Boomer's Quest for Olympic Gold Be…

Michael Phelps’ son may only be 6 months old, but he’s already taking after his Olympian father.

Boomer Phelps joined his dad and mom Nicole as they took a trip to the pool this past Monday—and he may just be a natural.

“Boomer is getting a little swim lesson while we’re at home in Baltimore right now,” the now retired Olympic champion told fans via a Facebook Live stream of the event. “This is the pool I used to train in way back in the day, the pool I learned to swim in, and now Boomer is learning here too.”

The athletic family was also joined by Phelps’ first swimming instructor, Cathy Bennett, who helped acclimate the 6-month-old baby to the water.

“He’s so relaxed and he loves it so much that he’s sleeping!” the coach joked as Boomer cuddled up to his dad during a pause in the action.

“He really does go to a happy place, just like Daddy when he’s in the pool,” a proud Phelps beamed.

It wasn’t all relaxation for baby Boomer, though. The future swimmer also takes after is dad in that he didn’t initially like being underwater. 

“He’s been crying,” the swimmer told viewers as he struggled to pry his son off of his beard and later out from under the crook of his arm. “He put his face in and he didn’t really like it too much, but now he’s grabbing on for dear life.” 

And if that sounds familiar it may be because Michael admitted he was the same way as a kid in an interview with ESPN earlier this year.

“It’s wild to kind of think about how far we’ve come. From my mom putting me in the water safety [to now]. I hated the water. I didn’t want anything to do with it,” the 23-time Olympic gold medalist confessed. 

But Michael has hope that his son will soon grow to love the water, just as he did.

“He was a lot more fussy, but it was good! I felt he was better relaxed today than he was last time,” he said, admitting that this is only Boomer’s fifth time in the pool. “His biggest thing is going under water, but he’s getting better!”

And for anyone who felt Boomer is too young for swimming lessons, Michael addressed their concerns in his stream too.

“Today was good!” Michael told fans. “The process is starting so that he gets to be more water-safe and becomes more relaxed and comfortable in the water.”

Dad knows best—safety first!

We can’t wait to see more clips of baby Boomer as he learns the basics.