Phelps ready to dive back into training

LOS ANGELES: Michael Phelps, who took several months off after the Beijing Olympics, is ready to resume training in early February to get ready for the US national championships in July.

The eight-time Beijing gold medallist Phelps will return to the pool on Feb 1 and then compete in the US nationals, scheduled for July 7-11 in Indianapolis, and the world championships in Rome later that month, USA Today newspaper reported on Wednesday.

"We're basically going to take this whole year to try to get him to a point where he can really get into serious training in the fall of 2009," Phelp's coach Bob Bowman told the newspaper.