This past week hasn’t been an easy one for Michael Phelps. After pictures of him smoking a bong hit the news circuit, he’s been threatened to be arrested, lost his endorsement from Kellogg, and USA Swimming has suspended him for 3 months without pay.

The USA Swimming issued this statement: “This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero. Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust.”

This week, Phelps recently told the Baltimore Suns that he is thinking about walking away from swimming for good.  Apparently the publicity scrutiny has got him all shook-up. This means that he wouldn’t be able to compete in the 2012 Olympics.

Phelps admits that he “clearly made a mistake” and feels uncomfortable and embarrassed about the whole situation.  He said: “This is a decision of mine that I’m not going to make today and I’m not going to make tomorrow. It’s going to require a lot of time and energy and a lot of thinking for myself – but also talking to Bob and talking to my family and just deciding what I want to do. If I decide to walk away, I’ll decide to walk away on my own terms.”

“Yeah, there are still goals that I have in the pool, 100 percent. But I’m not going to let anything stand in my way. If I decide to walk away, I’ll decide to walk away on my own terms. If it’s now, if it’s four years, who knows. But it is something I need to think about and decide what I want to do.”

To read the whole interview click here.