US swim star Michael Phelps to become a father before Rio Olympics

US swim star Michael Phelps, who has won a record 18 Olympic gold medals, on social media that he and his fiancee are expecting a baby.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 12: Michael Phelps speaks to the media at the Arena Pro Swim Series on November 12, 2015 at Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

US swim star Michael Phelps, who has won a record 18 Olympic gold medals, announced Wednesday on social media that he and his fiancee are expecting a baby boy.

On Twitter and Instagram, Phelps sent out a photo with he and the mother-to-be, former Miss California beauty queen Nicole Johnson, holding a tiny pair of boy’s swim shorts.

“We found out 8 weeks ago we were expecting ... Today we’re over 12 weeks and it looks like we’re having a boy,” Phelps said in his message accompanying the photo.

Michael Phelps looks on after winning the 200 meter individual medley final at the Arena Pro Swim Series on November 14, 2015 at Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center in Minneapolis.

The news comes after Phelps swam competitively for the first time in three months, winning the men’s 200m individual medley at the US Pro Swim Series meet in Minneapolis as he works toward the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next August — or about three months after the birth.

Phelps, whose record 22 overall Olympic medals include a historic one-Games haul of eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and four golds with two silvers at the 2012 London Olympics, also competed at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics.

His bid for a fifth berth in the Olympics was almost scuttled by a drink driving arrest last year that kept him off the US team at the World Championships this year in Russia.

Instead he swam at the US championships and won gold in the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley with times faster than those of the world champion — a sign he is fit and again a favourite for gold in Brazil next year.

Originally published as US swim star Michael Phelps to become a father before Rio Olympics