Turns out everyone pees in the pool – even Michael Phelps

Put your average person in a pool with an Olympic swimmer, and it would likely become very degrading very quickly.

This writer has been incapable of properly doing breast stroke since the age of about nine, and considers more than 20 lengths (with a small break in the middle) to be a solid achievement. But if there's one great leveller in the swimming pool, one thing that brings the disgustingly fit professional, the four-year-old child, and the stamina-challenged everyman together, it's that we all piss in the water from time to time. And don't just take our word for it: that's according to 31-year-old swimming god himself, Michael Phelps. The 21-time gold medal winner and most decorated Olympian of all time will hang up his trunks after Rio, but the internet is busy remembering an interview the legendary athlete gave to The Wall Street Journal back in 2012. At the time he was being questioned about fellow Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, who had at the time recently admitted to occasionally taking a cheeky leak when necessary. Rather than trying to initiate a reputation-preserving, toilet-based cover-up, Phelps was in total agreement.

"I think everybody pees in the pool," he said. "It's kind of a normal thing to do for swimmers. When we're in the water for two hours, we don't really get out to pee."

He also explained that "chlorine kills it so it’s not bad". So next time you're watching competitive swimming on the telly and the camera pans all close-up to one of the contestants, observe their facial expressions. In a race these guys can often look superhuman, but if you've got to go, you've got to go.