Celebrity Studios Online - Who is Michael Phelps Dating?

Who is Michael Phelps Dating?

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Michael Phelps of the U.S. celebrates after the U.S. team won the men's 4x100m medley relay swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 17, 2008. [Agencies]

Michael Phelps has made all the headlines in the pool after going one better than Mark Spitz's record, now his girlfriend looks just as likely to be thrust into the spotlight.

Two girls have recently been linked with Beijing's eight-time gold medalist: US swimmer Amanda Beard and British model Lily Donaldson.

Beard held the Olympic record for women's 200 metres breaststroke after her win in Athens, but failed to reach the final in Beijing. She currently appears nude in a PETA campaign and has posed nude for Playboy.

21-year-old Donaldson is the surprise of the two candidates. Donaldson is known for usurping the Burberry campaign from Kate Moss in 2007 and currently appears in campaigns for Gucci and Gap.

However, Phelps, has always played down his private life. Before the 2004 Games, the 23-year-old said: "I haven’t got a girlfriend and I can’t do the kind of things all my friends are doing as college students.

"I swim, listen to hip hop and work on my car. But, in my opinion, that’s still a pretty good life. I don’t know whether I’d want to trade it for anything, ” telegraph.co.uk quoted him as saying.