Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals, including 14 golds

Swimming superstar Michael Phelps says he will not try to repeat his astonishing Beijing haul of eight gold medals at the London Olympics in 2012.

The 23-year-old set a new Olympic record in Beijing last summer, breaking Mark Spitz's previous best of seven.

"I'm almost positive my last eight-event meet was Beijing," said Phelps.

"I'll never swim eight events at a major competition again. When you're swimming so many events, all you do is eat, sleep, swim; eat, sleep, swim."

I will have more time to take in all the experiences, possibly being in the stands and cheering Michael Phelps

But the workload of 17 races in nine days left Phelps feeling he had missed out on the the overall Olympic experience.

"I was always warming up, warming down, going back and forth to the pool, eating at the village and then going to sleep," he said.

"I think I will have more time to take in all the experiences, possibly being in the stands and cheering."

"You know, I haven't had that experience since, I guess, 2001 at my first world championships. So, really being a part of the team more.

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"So that's something I'm looking forward to and it's something that should be fun."

Phelps, who on Thursday was named the United States Olympic Committee's sportsman of the year for 2008, has in the past spoken about the possibility of targeting different swimming events in London but has so far been cagey about specifics.

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