Michael Phelps swims during his heat in the men's 200m butterfly at the US Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska in this July 1.- Xinhua/Reuters

Eight-time Beijing Olympic winner Michael Phelps will resume training in February, USA Today newspaper reported yesterday.

The 23-year-old will get ready for the US national championships scheduled for July 7-11 in Indianapolis.

"We're basically going to take this whole year to try to get him to a point where he can really get into serious training in the fall of 2009," Phelp's coach Bob Bowman told the newspaper.

Phelps took several months vacation after the Olympics.