No Limits: The Will to Succeed by Michael Phelps, Alan Abrahamson

Synopsis

No Limits: The Will to Succeed provides insights from the Beijing Games, the pool, and the team, giving readers an up-close view of Michael Phelps's record-breaking performance. Phelps also shares anecdotes about his family, his coach, his passion for the sport, and lessons learned from unexpected challenges and obstacles. No Limits: The Will to Succeed is an inspirational memoir not only for fans of great, dramatic moments in sports but also for a wider audience of fans who will take inspiration from a man and his determination to succeed.

Publishers Weekly

At just 23 years old, world record-holding swimmer Phelps has become a worldwide sports and pop culture phenomenon, thanks to his unparalleled eight gold medal wins in the 2008 Olympic Games. With help from award-winning sports journalist Abrahamson, Phelps chronicles his life, from Baltimore childhood to triumph in Beijing. The younger brother of two record-setting sisters, Phelps was practically brought up in the water-though he was initially thrown into the pool as therapy for his ADHD, which was diagnosed at an early age. Each of eight chapters takes its name from one of the eight races Phelps won in Beijing, and each is filled with anecdotes and intimate details leading up to his record-breaking successes. He sheds a bit of light on his relationship with his estranged father, and his disenchanting DUI charge just months after winning six gold medals at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. Sparing no details in his account of the rigorous and often grueling training regiment he developed, as well as the career-threatening injuries he overcame just in time for competition, Phelps provides sports buffs with the details they'll crave and his global fan base the candor and charm they're hoping for.
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Biography

Michael Phelps is an American swimmer.  He holds the record for winning the most gold medals (8) in a single Olympics (2008).  He has won 16 Olympic medals, 14 gold and two bronze.  He holds seven world records and has over 20 World Championship medals. After returning home from Beijing in 2008, Michael used the well-publicized $1 million dollar Speedo bonus to start the Michael Phelps Foundation through which he hopes to encourage children to lead healthy, active lives, and to continue to grow the sport of swimming.  He now resides in Baltimore, MD with his dog Herman.

Alan Abrahamson is an award-winning sportswriter and a recognized authority on the Olympics. In 2006, he left the Los Angeles Times, where he had been a staff writer for 17 years, to write for the NBC suite of online properties, which now includes NBCOlympics.com, NBCSports.com and UniversalSports.com. Since 2003, Alan has also served as a sports and Olympic analyst on NBC's television networks. Among other honors, Alan won the 2002 National Headliner Award for sports writing and was named the Los Angeles Press Club's 2004 sports journalist of the year. Alan and his wife, Laura, and their three children live in Southern California.