# Age of Phelps? ...and, Spitz? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061 "2008-08-15T02:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/1 "2008-08-15T02:37:10Z")
I was just wondering if Phelps is about the same age as Spitz when he won so many gold medals at one Olympics (1972?). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/2 "2008-08-15T02:45:36Z")
Come on, dude…I know you don’t trust Wikipedia but it’s not hard to look up 2 guys’ birthdates and do some math. Mark Spitz - Feb 10, 1950 Michael Phelps - June 30, 1985 ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/3 "2008-08-15T15:13:50Z")
So for the math challenged: Spitz = 22 (he’s now 58, and [looks older](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Spitz#1972_Olympics)) Phelps = 23 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/4 "2008-08-16T06:02:55Z")
Since I don’t think we can trust **Jinx** to figure it out for himself despite all the information that’s already been given, the answer is NO. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/5 "2008-08-16T07:16:49Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] Since I don’t think we can trust **Jinx** to figure it out for himself despite all the information that’s already been given, the answer is NO. [/QUOTE] Umm, if you ask me 22 and 23 is about the same age. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/6 "2008-08-16T23:05:33Z")
[Moderating] From the General Questions Rules sticky at the top of the page: This part is for **Jinx** : > [@](#): > > 1. Please take some time to consider if your proposed thread is really a General Question . . . Perhaps more importantly, many queries can be solved with a simple web search. Please give your favorite search engine a shot if you can before starting a thread. **Jinx** , we often overlook excessively simple-minded questions, and let them slide. But you have made something of a career of them. When the question is as easily researched as this one, you might try finding out the answer on your own. If you actually wanted to discuss this topic for some reason, or make some observation about it, IMHO or The Game Room would have been a better forum. This part is for several of the other posters in this thread: > [@](#): > > By the same token, we aren’t interested in hearing about how stupid the question was because a search could have answered the question. Nor are we interested in hearing how simple it was for another poster to find the answer in a search engine. If it’s that simple to find the answer, go ahead and post the answer. If you think a question is stupid, it’s better to report it than snark at it. Since the question has been answered, I’m closing this. If someone wishes to discuss the significance of the relative ages of the two, you can start a thread in an appropriate forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-phelps-and-spitz/460061/7 "2008-08-16T23:11:19Z")
The mod so nice, he closed it twice!