Bong. Water.

So, Michael Phelps smoked some pot in the off-season. Big whoop.
Perhaps his next endorsement should be "Weedies: the wake and bake of champions."

The UK tabloid's puritanical coverage of this "scandal" is more pathetic than Phelps' being stupid enough to crash a party and make such a scene to get high.

In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record 8 gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong. The glass pipes are generally used to smoke cannabis.

And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean 4-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be over.

Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he puffed from the bong during two days of partying with students last November, a quiet time in the swimming calendar when athletes would not expect to get tested for drugs.One party-goer who witnessed the star’s behaviour told the News of the World: “He was out of control from the moment he got there. “If he continues to party like that I’d be amazed if he ever won any more medals again.” Phelps’ aides went into a panic over our story and offered us a raft of extraordinary incentives not to run the bong picture.

A 23-year-old jock parties. Stop the presses. Sure, he's the most world-famous 23-year-old jock, and he could lose a few of his millions in endorsements. So that may have been a rather pricey toke.

Update: Phelps donned a suit and tie (but didn't shave the hot goatee, thankfully) to apologize for his bad behavior. Yes, Mikey, don't (get photographed when you) smoke pot.