Some call him “The Greatest Olympian of All Time,” while others simply call him Michael Phelps. He recently sat down with Men’s Fitness for an interview.

Since winning a record eight gold medals at this summer’s Olympic games, Michael Phelps has rocketed to international stardom with an appearance on Saturday Night Live, tons of endorsement offers, and an impressive list of pro-athlete pals. Lucky for us, Phelps dropped by the Men’s Fitness office to give MF the lowdown on his training, supplements, and what he’s been up to since making history.

Have you done much swimming since Beijing?
Nothing. I’ve never taken a break before. I’ve gone 12 years of pretty much straight work. My coach said after 2008 I could do whatever I want. I was like, ‘Alright, well, I’m not going to swim for a few months then.’ It’s tough. It’s weird. You go from having something as a part of your everyday life to waking up and doing absolutely nothing. I’ll wake up and say, ‘Hmm, what am I going go to do today? Lets see what’s on TV.’

Do you have a time-line for when you’re going to start training again?
Oh, I don’t know. Just getting back in shape is the biggest thing. January or February is when I’ll start. It’s weird, because I go from swimming pretty much every day of my life to not really doing anything. It’s a little strange. I kind of miss having some kind of routine. I used to wake up at 6:30 every day and go work out and then come back and go to bed. Now I don’t get up until noon and don’t really have a set schedule.

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Today, AskMen.com released their list of the world’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2008. Over 200,000 voters participated to help determine which men in the public eye most influenced the way they bought, dressed, and thought in the past year. Athletes made up 25 percent of the list, the most of any other category (music, politics, fashion, etc.). Their respective rankings are below:

46. Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees

45. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins

41. Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1 Racing

40. Brett Favre – New York Jets

30. Rafael Nadal – Association of Tennis Professionals

25. David Beckham – Los Angeles Galaxy

21. Usain Bolt – 2008 Olympics gold-medal sprinter

20. LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

18. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

9. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United

3. Michael Phelps – 2008 Olympics gold-medal swimmer

While I’m not sure how much Michael Phelps affected how males bought, dressed, and thought over the past few months, these athletes have certainly garnered interest for what they represent, their sport. Although the criteria might have to be worded differently next time around (at #48, David Simon, creator of The Wire, definitely affected how our culture thinks), I agree that these individuals have helped sports in general more than their peers. For example, Lewis Hamilton broke Formula 1’s color barrier, Rafael Nadal has reinvigorated tennis, and both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps momentarily united the world in celebration with their success in the Olympics.

It’s pretty interesting to see how much sway Kobe and Favre still have while sports such as golf, UFC, and boxing lacked a representative on the list.

The New York Post is reporting that Michael Phelps celebrated his historic performance at the Bejing Olympics by sucking face with Australian swimmer (and hottie) Stephanie Rice.

Phelps, fresh from shattering Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record, was spotted Monday night in a hot make-out session with Down Under swimmer Stephanie Rice, a source tells The Post’s Clemente Lisi and Luke Dennehy. The pumped-up pair clinched and swapped spit at a celebratory bash outside the Olympic Village.

The Baltimore Bullet swooped in for the lip-lock with the 20-year-old brunette just weeks after she split from Aussie swimmer Eamon Sullivan. “All the swimmers are talking about it, and [Sullivan] is cut up about what happened,” the source said.

The day after the face-sucking frolics, Phelps and Rice cheekily posed together for Speedo – laughing and playfully groping each other as a photographer snapped them in their swimsuits. “I definitely admire him for his athletic ability and everything he’s achieved,” gushed Rice, who won three gold medals of her own. “I’m just really glad to be in the mix with that.”

In the mix, indeed.

Some are saying that Usain Bolt is having a better performance than Phelps at these Olympics, but I think this puts Phelps over the top.

Ato Boldon answered a question from Bob Costas about Usain Bolt’s terrific 100m world record run at the beginning of NBC’s primetime coverage on Monday night.

Costas: “How in the world was he able to run 9.69?”

Boldon: “I haven’t had a chance to really wrap my mind around it yet, but a lot of people are just still awestruck by what he was able to do. We just didn’t think that someone that tall would be able to run that sort of time. And… uh… just a great performance, and so far the performance, by far, of these Games.“

By far? Mr. Boldon, I’d like to introduce you to Michael Phelps. Not sure if you’ve heard, but he had a pretty good week in the pool.