U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte's won 6 medals -- and even beat Michael Phelps -- but that still doesn't get him a pass for pretending to be the biggest d-bag in the pool. He is pretending ... right?

"Blah blah blah I'm Michael Phelps. Blah blah blah gold medals. Blah blah blah Olympic champion. Blah blah blah American hero."


Yesterday, Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas. Just that simple.

Michael Phelps competed in a sport this weekend that wasn't in a pool -- engaging in some high-stakes poker in Atlantic City.


Phelps was spotted at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, playing at a pretty expensive no limit hold 'em poker table.

We're told Phelps came out ahead on the day -- which is good because a gold medal winning American hero who dates beauty queens really needs a victory every now and again.

Brittny Gastineau has landed herself a real American hero in the form of bazillion-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps ... TMZ has learned.



Our photog spotted the pair together at the Grove in Los Angeles ... and as soon as our camera started up, they split in opposite directions. You can only see Michael Phelps for a brief moment, representing his hometown of Baltimore with a throwback Orioles hat.

A source close to the pair tells us the whole thing is kind of new, but the pair hung out at the Mondrian Hotel on Friday night and were "very cozy." Then on Saturday, we're told they hit up a Coffee Bean and did a little shopping ... that's when we caught up with them.

Insert "breast stroke joke" here.

Olympic god Michael Phelps showed off his skills in the pool ... mackin' on his on-again/off-again GF Miss California USA Nicole Johnson at the Grand Wailea in Maui yesterday.


We're told Phelps took a bunch of photos and signed autographs for fans ... in between gettin' real close and personal with Miss Cali.

The dude has got game. 

Scotty Lago -- with the help of Michael Phelps -- has hatched a conspiracy theory about those not-really-salacious pics that got Scotty booted from the Olympics ... but it doesn't hold up to us.



Lago told us that Phelps told a friend of his about the time when an Asian journalist tried to kiss Phelps on the cheek for a photo. That journalist was Lainey Liu, who runs a site called laineygossip.com -- and she wrote about the encounter with Phelps about a week ago and posted the photo above (left).

Lago's run-in was infamously documented (right) and a quick comparison of the two women shows very little similarity to us -- except of course for ... well, you know.

Question is ...

Just days after Nicole Johnson was crowned Miss California USA 2010 -- she's already found a way to get her name in the news ... uncovering a secret relationship with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.



TMZ spoke with Johnson who said, "Now that it is after the fact, I will admit that we were together. We agreed to keep this private because it was the only thing that he could keep private ... we remain close friends."

Johnson claims the two dated for just over a year between 2007 and 2008.

Phelps was rumored to have dated the previous Miss California, Carrie Prejean -- so far, no cell phone video to back that up.

There is definitely a Michael Phelps who owes $20,000 to the State of California ... problem is, he's not the same Michael Phelps who competed in the Olympics.

As for the real Phelps, he's in excellent tax standing in the Golden state.

Now, we're off to buy a ton of Speedos ... and Omega watches ... and PowerBars ...

If you haven't had enough of the Michael Phelps car crash, now the Baltmore PD has released an action packed drawing for your enjoyment ... complete with directional arrows!



The diagram shows Phelps' car (left) striking an Accord (right) that blew through a red light at the intersection of Calvert and Biddle Street. Both cars then struck a parked car on the side of the road, which in turn struck a fourth car parked in front of it. The Accord also struck a U.S. Postal mailbox after careening off Phelps' Cadillac Escalade.

Phelps admitted to drinking a beer about two hours before the accident, but cops ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash. The report says Phelps "did not show any signs of fatigue or alcohol use ... there was no odor of alcoholic beverage about his person."

Michael Phelps may not have been at fault for his car accident this week, but he wasn't exactly squeaky clean, either.

Phelps will be cited for driving with an expired license, which was from Michigan, the NY Post is reporting. Phelps will have to appear before a judge, though no date has been set so far.

Phelps also admitted to police he had a beer about an hour before the crash. He was not given a Breathalyzer test on scene.

Phelps was involved in a two-car accident in Baltimore on Thursday. It was ruled the other driver ran a red light, causing the wreck.

TMZ has obtained this photo of Michael Phelps at the scene of his car crash last night -- where judging by his jersey, it appears he was supporting his hometown Baltimore Ravens earlier in the evening.



Cops say Phelps -- who was wearing the jersey of defensive superstar Ed Reed -- was not at fault for the accident. The Ravens beat the Washington Redskins at their pre-season home opener around 7:30 PM. The accident occurred around 9:00 PM.

A police spokesman tells TMZ a Honda ran a red light and struck Phelps' Cadillac Escalade, before bouncing off and hitting a parked car.

Law enforcement also says Phelps -- who was busted for DUI back in 2004 -- was definitely not drunk this time.

The police spokesman told us "If he was impaired, you can bet your bottom dollar he would've been taken in. We don't tolerate that."

WJZ13 shot footage of Phelps inside an ambulance giving his official statement to police -- we're told he was "very respectful of the process."