July 22, 2012 7:00 PM

Michael Phelps: Ready for London games?

For Bowman, the bottom came one Saturday in the summer of 2010.

Bob Bowman: This was about a week before the Nationals and I normally have a major practice, something that's gonna be really important. So we show up on Saturday morning and he's not there. That did not make me happy. And then I later found out that he was in Las Vegas for the weekend.

Anderson Cooper: I assume he wasn't going to Vegas to do, like, dry land training?

Bob Bowman: No, he wasn't doing any special training. Although I think he was at a pool.

Michael Phelps: Maybe it was we watched "The Hangover" or something. Like, we watched the movie and we were like, "Man, we just want to go to Vegas."

[The Hangover clip: Road trip!...]

Michael Phelps: So a couple of us just got up and went to Vegas. I mean, that, that's...

Anderson Cooper: Your motivation is "The Hangover" to go to Vegas? I mean, that's not...

Michael Phelps: I know, right? But that's, that's kind of like, what I would do. You know I, I wasn't in tune to everything that was going on in the pool. So, you know, if, if I wanted to get up and just play golf one day, I would just get up and play golf. If I wanted to go to Vegas, I would just get up and go to Vegas.

Anderson Cooper:Did you feel guilty? Or did you feel like...

Michael Phelps: No.

Anderson Cooper: No?

Michael Phelps: Not at all. I was having fun. I was pretty much just escaping the pool.

To compensate for the times Michael played hookey, Phelps and Bowman have had to get creative. This is like a treadmill for swimmers, allowing Bowman to fine tune Michael's strokes.

Bob Bowman: Let's see if you can work on keeping one goggle in on your breath instead of checking the weather. It's cloudy...

And inside Michael's apartment, an unusual contraption: a chamber he sleeps in that simulates high altitude in order to improve his endurance. He doesn't want anyone to see it, but he was willing to talk to us about it.

Michael Phelps: Once I'm already in my room, I still have to open a door to get into my bed. So, that's kind of strange.

Anderson Cooper: So, it's a tent that fits over the whole bed?

Michael Phelps: It's just like a giant box. So, it's like the boy in the bubble. That's what it kind of is.

Anderson Cooper: What altitude are you sleeping at right now?

Michael Phelps: About 8,500 to 9,000 feet.

Anderson Cooper: So you actually want him to spend as much time as possible...

Bob Bowman: I want him to spend as much time in there as possible.



© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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