Kids Are So Inspired By This Video Of 11-Year-Old Michael Phelps Swimming

With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio in full swing, I can't think of a better way to celebrate Throwback Thursday this week than by watching the above video of 11-year-old Michael Phelps absolutely smoking the competition.

According to the YouTube description, the video shows 11-year-old Michael Phelps competing in a 50-meter butterfly race in 1997. (Or maybe it's 1996?)

Spoiler: The race wasn't even fucking close.

You can hear kids in the background cheering for Phelps – as if he needed their added support – probably in the hopes of befriending the half man/half fish at a young age.

As a kid, I could hold my own in most recreational sports. But I was smart enough to know I was never going to be a professional at anything.

I was also smart enough to know that if one of my peers was as good at something as 11-year-old Michael Phelps was at swimming, I'd become that person's best friend ASAP.

Like, let me carry your bag and books and shit, fam. Just remember me when you're smoking the competition on the world stage and becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time.

In a world full of Twitter trolls, it's also really refreshing to read the comments young kids left on the YouTube page for this video. They posted their ages and times for similar swimming events.

Phelps has always been freakishly good at competitive swimming. So hopefully, he'll inspire the next crop of Olympic hopefuls.

Citations: 11 year old Michael Phelps wins 50 Butterfly - 1997 (YouTube)