18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps Tweets about first trip to Maine, trying lobster

Swimmer Michael Phelps, whose record 18 gold medals — and 22 overall — make him the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, arrived in southern Maine this weekend, according to the star athlete’s Twitter account and Instagram traffic.

If the Instagram account of Phelps is to be believed, he got that try of lobster:

And this last piece of social media traffic on the subject comes by way of Phelps pal Jeff Gross, himself an accomplished professional poker player. This Instagram pic really hammers the point home, with what’s clearly Portland Harbor in the background (see Fort Gorges there on the right):

Source tips aside, the connection to Maine here is pretty easy to find. Saco-based Octagon Olympics & Action Sports is one of the preeminent sports agencies in the world, and specializes in individual athletes — unlike many others, which focus on team sports stars, like those you’d find in professional basketball or football.

Peter Carlisle, managing director of Octagon, was named one of Sports Illustrated magazine’s 15 most influential sports agents, a list that also included some more bombastic or notorious agents like Drew Rosenhaus and Scott Boras.

Of course, Phelps’ former U.S. Olympic teammate is Ian Crocker, who was born in Portland and has five Olympic medals of his own — including a gold for the 2004 medley relay in which Phelps also earned hardware.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.