So much for dating beauty pageant contestants and having flings with fellow Olympic swimmers. These days Michael Phelps is hanging with the real deal—-a girl worthy enough to bring home to mama.
According to reports, the part man/part fish flew home to Baltimore earlier this week with gal pal Caroline “Caz” Pal in tow. The Olympic champion reportedly met the 26-year-old Las Vegas cocktail waitress at the Palms Casino Resort’s Moon Nightclub where she works and where Phelps has been perfecting his card game in preparation for the 2009 World Series of Poker. (He recently made it to the final table of the Caesars Palace Poker Classic.)
Forget about swimming with Olympians, Phelps is apparently training to swim with the sharks on the pro poker tour. And according to Phelps’ pals, he wants his new leggy brunette girlfriend to be his lucky charm.
In case you are wondering why this scenario sounds familiar… two words: Sarah Larson. Two more: George Clooney. Larson was also a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas when she and Georgie boy hooked up, though we all know how that one ended.
Sources say Phelps and Pal have been dating for about two months and the gold-medalist felt it was time for his new girl to meet his mom and sisters. It’s unclear how much time Pal and Phelps have spent with one another outside the casino. Witnesses say the majority of their days are spent around the poker table.
How romantic.
Personally, I’m not so interested in Phelps’ love life (my prediction: he and Pal will be splitsville before Valentine’s Day) as much as I am with his obsession with poker.
“It was fun!” Phelps told PEOPLE after completing a recent poker tournament. “It’s just like a game that I could become better at and use some of my competitiveness at the poker table.”
From Olympic greatness to the world of high stakes poker… what a difference a few months makes.