This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's July 18 Body Issue. Subscribe today. Editor's note: This story contains explicit language. Snakes. For as long as Michael Phelps can remember, he's hated ...

In the fall of 2015 I went to Arizona to report a story on Michael Phelps for Sports Illustrated. It was in one way a dutiful piece: Phelps was already the greatest swimmer in history and already the ...