Michael Phelps accuses USA Swimming of using him like a 'piece of meat': 'They’ve shoved us out the door for years'

USA Swimming continues to face flak over the nation’s performance at the World Aquatics Championships that took place in Singapore recently with legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps taking a fresh swipe at the national governing body, accusing them of using him like a “piece of meat” throughout his decorated career.

USA swimming has come under fire from Phelps as well as other American swim icons such as Ryan Lochte and Rowdy Gaines after the United States’ dominance of the pool came under threat at the World Championships, which concluded in Singapore on Sunday.

While the Americans won more medals in swimming, China topped the overal medal table – both in terms of gold medals won (15) as well as the total medal count (37). USA finished third with a total of 32 medals, including 10 gold. Australia beat them to the second spot despite having won four fewer medals – having won three more gold medals than their fierce rivals.

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‘Saddened and disappointed’: USA Swimming

Phelps and his peer Lochte shared a meme on social media that portrayed the funeral of American swimming. USA Swimming’s interim CEO Bob Vincent, however, responded to the swim legends’ posts stating the organisation was “saddened and disappointed” by the timing of their comments.

Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte just took some public shots at USA Swimming on Instagram.

Agree with them or not, this is a pretty big deal. They’re fed up and not afraid to start letting people know. pic.twitter.com/R9nxNBzeuP

— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) August 1, 2025

The Colorado Springs-based governing body also expressed unhappiness with Gaines criticising them in interviews as well as on live broadcasts, especially for being without a full-time CEO with the Los Angeles Olympics just three years away.

“We respect and value the opinions of Rowdy, Michael, Ryan, and all USA Swimming alums. We acknowledge that their comments come from a place of passion and genuine desire to see USA Swimming succeed. We are saddened and disappointed at the timing of the comments,” read a statement from USA Swimming.

“The USA Swimming team battled severe illness in Singapore, and these comments added public scrutiny to an already challenging situation for our athletes and coaches. We are incredibly proud of the resilience of our team in the face of such difficult circumstances and remain confident in the leadership, strategic direction, and culture established by newly appointed National Team Managing Director Greg Meehan.

“USA Swimming has reached out directly to Rowdy and other notable alums in recent months, offering them a forum, including an invitation to join in a more official manner. The door remains open, as the only path forward for our sport is to work collectively to achieve a shared vision of success. We remain focused on the task at hand: winning LA28,” it continued.

Phelps hits back

Phelps, who holds numerous records including most Olympic medals (28) as well as Olympic gold medals (23), hit back at the governing body, accusing them of lying about reaching out to Gaines and of shoving them “out the door for years”.

“Maybe a false statement, because I know they didn’t reach out to Rowdy. They’ve shoved us out the door for years. Treated me like a piece of meat thro my career. Hopefully it changes someday,” Phelps wrote in the comments section in a post by the Big Friendly Swim Podcast on Instagram.

The United States had a relatively underwhelming run in last year’s Paris Olympics as well, where they topped the medal table but finished with just eight gold medals – the lowest since Seoul 1988.