NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Phelps is the latest athlete to use a
hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery from training.
The 16-time Olympic medalist said Wednesday he had been sleeping
"at 8,000 feet every night" for almost a year. The 26-year-old
swimmer noticed he bounced back from workouts better when he
trained at altitude, so he's trying a device that simulates that.
"We've been able to realize after going to Colorado Springs so
many times that it is something that helps me recover," Phelps
said. "That's something that is so important to me now being
older. I don't recover as fast as I used to."
He said the chamber looked like a fish tank: "Imagine, like, a
bed with a box around it."
"It's kind of strange but it's good," Phelps said during an
appearance for sponsor Procter & Gamble. "I don't mind it. There's
a giant door at the end of my bed. The worst thing is trying to
watch TV in it. I've got to watch it through Plexiglas. It's
blurry."
Phelps is preparing for what he says will be his final Olympics
this summer in London. He won a record eight gold medals in Beijing
in 2008.
