Swimmer Michael Phelps has become the most be-medalled Olympian of all time after winning eight golds in Beijing. Naturally, we have been musing about whether there is any way we can claim him.
For: Michael is a biblical name. Plus, we have a sneaky feeling that the name Phelps may have been changed from Feltz, despite the fact that we have absolutely no evidence for this. Even if Phelps is not strictly Jewish, one of his medals is. In the freestyle relay, two of his team - Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale - were of the tribe, which makes three if you include Feltz, sorry Phelps. Other evidence could be significant. Phelps comes from the Baltimore-Washington area, which boasts 165,000 Jews.
Statistically there must be a chance. Plus, until now, all American swimmers who have won seven medals or more at the Olympic Games have been Jewish (ie Mark Spitz). Pretty conclusive, huh? Also, he likes a big fress-up - he consumes 12,000 calories a day.
Against: The only evidence against Phelps being Jewish is the fact that neither his mother, Debbie, nor his father, Fred, is Jewish. Surely, this is just a technical point - as are the several ham-and-cheese sandwiches he eats as part of his gargantuan intake of food. Well, we never claimed he was a frummer.
Verdict: OK , he may swim like a gefilte fish, but he's no Jew. Sorry, we did our best.
How Jewish Is: The series in which we investigate the Semitic qualities (or otherwise) of someone in the news.