INDUSTRY NEWS: Phelps, The Omega Man

LONG BEACH, Calif. July 18. – AFTER finishing his arduous competitive calendar from the Olympic Trials, superstar Michael Phelps got to enjoy one of the perks of a celebrity that crosses from the sporting world into the broader culture. He is now an Omega Man.

A release from Swatch Group announced that at the end of the Trials Phelps was to be introduced by supermodel Cindy Crawford and television personality Pat O’Brien as the newest member of the Omega family of Brand Ambassadors.

Phelps is the 19-year-old athlete who, at 15, was the youngest male swimmer since 1932 to compete in the Olympic Games where he was a finalist in the 200 butterfly. He just finished qualifying for the US Olympic team in six events — 100 & 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 200 & 400 Individual Medley, and 200 backstroke — before trimming his schedule for Athens to five individual events plus relays by dropping the 200 backstroke. He opened the meet by lowering his own world record in the 400 individual medley.

Phelps joins stylish company in becoming an Omega "ambassador" along with the likes of Cindy Crawford, Anna Kournikova, Pierce Brosnan, Ernie Els, Michael Shumacher, and Sergio Garcia, among others.

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