Michelle Valles: Meeting Mike Phelps!
Reported by: Michelle Valles
You can’t help but feel a little spoiled when you live in Austin, Texas. We have such a fun and active social scene with so many professionals and people of all walks of life who just want to help and get involved.
My position at KEYE TV allows me to come across some fun celebrities, actors, and athletes. And Monday I got to meet the famous USA Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
It was a last minute invited well sorta. This is how it happened.
Olympic medalist, and National Team member Brendan Hansen called me up and invited my boyfriend and I out to the fairly new Steiner Steakhouse where PureSport was hosting a dinner for Phelps who is in town to promote his new kid’s book “No Limits: The Will to Succeed.”
The students at Wiley Middle School in Leander will be meeting the champion swimmer Tuesday to talk about his journey to success, and answer questions for students. The school won the special visit from Phelps after earning first place in a Scholastic Book Fairs’ National Middle School Contest, a program that encourages schools to run their own Book Fair by creating contests, themes, basically whatever will get kids to read more.
Phelps was so charming and greeted everyone with a smile last night. He is very unassuming, at least in a small crowd. I took some pictures and snuck in a hug (of course) and welcomed him to Austin, Texas. I also told Phelps how proud I was of him as a person and I did ask him one personal question. I asked Phelps if he is taking good care of his mother. He smiled and said, “Oh don’t you worry about that! She is well taken care of.” If you watched the 2008 Olympics then you are familiar with Phelps’ childhood story and the challenges of being raised by a single mother. It was very touching. I connected with him on that because my parents divorced and I am estranged from my biological father as well.
I also got to catch up with Hansen and meet his teammate Aaron Piersol (pictured with Carla McDonald from PureSport, Ray Benson, Hansen behind me, Piersol and Jack McDonald from PureSport) who also resides in Austin. We got to talking about the TV business, fun radio interviews we’ve enjoyed on NPR. I asked Piersol and Hansen very little about their training. It wasn’t the right time to talk about such a stressful topic! I also has commented on Piersol’s new appearance. He has a moustache now, and looks like a 1970s salesman. Obviously, he has a huge sense of humor and was amused when I told him I knew he was growing a moustache just so folks can get a kick out of it. He’s a very pleasant guy, it doesn’t help that he’s also a UT Longhorn!
After meeting 3 Olympic swimmers and eating a nice steak from Steiner Steakhouse, I was happier than a girl trying on Italian made stilettos. It was time to call it a good night.
Of course I was super stoked about meeting them, but I think I was even happier to know that 3 young men were representing not just the USA well, but themselves. They appear to be young men full of life, energy, and ready for that next task in life… whether it be the next Olympic games or a business venture. I love being excited for people who want to succeed!
