Michael Phelps was voted by his group to be the flag bearer.
=== 2000 Summer Olympics ===Phelps's rapid improvement culminated when he qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15, as he became the youngest male (since Ralph Flanagan in 1932) to make a U
 Phelps was reportedly motivated by the national team's failure to win the men's 4  100 m freestyle relay since their Beijing 2008 and Rome 2009 titles

