Michael and Nicole Phelps are gearing up for the 50th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction with a limited-edition Ford Roush Mustang to benefit the Michael Phelps Foundation
BY KAYLOR JONES / PHOTOS COURTESY OF BARRETT-JACKSON
As the most decorated Olympian of all time, all-star swimmer Michael Phelps is an athlete who needs no introduction. This March at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction, a one-of-a-kind Ford Roush Mustang will cross the auction block to benefit the Michael Phelps Foundation (www.michaelphelpsfoundation.org) and its curriculum of water safety, healthy living and goal setting, the same principles that helped propel Phelps to the top. “I didn’t become the swimmer I am by myself,” Michael says. “I had an integral support system of family, coaches and a team to help encourage and challenge me as I realized my dream – to change the sport of swimming.” Two essential members of this support network – his wife, Nicole Phelps, and his long-time coach Bob Bowman – brought
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So Scottsdale! January ‘21
the athlete to the Valley in 2015. After Bowman took a position as the head swimming and diving coach for Arizona State University, the Phelps family followed, and two months later, they learned they were pregnant with their first child, Boomer. “Michael and I had a serious conversation about where we saw ourselves living. We had already fallen in love with Arizona – and made it through the month of August! – so we knew it was home,” Nicole says. “Our favorite part about living in the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley area is the plethora of things to do, not only as adults, but for our three boys. We’re more than happy to call this beautiful state home.” Nicole has an impressive resume of her own. After getting her start in the pageant world at age 17, she won Miss California USA