/ News of the World

Michael Phelps, who won a record eight swimming gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, is shown with a water pipe on the cover of "News of the World" newspaper.

That said, Phelps’ apology sounded genuine to her. “It wasn’t the lame, ’sorry-if-anyone-got-offended’ kind,” she said. And in the athlete’s defense, she added: “I often think, ’Wow, he spent a lot of time underwater. When did he even get to hang out with friends?”’

It remains to be seen what happens with Phelps’ sponsors. Apparel company Speedo, luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega and sports beverage PureSport all say they support him. But other big sponsors, such as Visa Inc. and Kellogg Co., aren’t talking yet.

His agency, Octagon, said Phelps has spoken personally with his sponsors to apologize and that the agency was encouraged by his sponsors’ support.

Weston, the author, fears that if Phelps emerges unscathed, parents seeking a teachable moment are going to have a tricky situation on their hands. “If this all works out for him, parents are going to have a pretty hard time saying drugs are bad,” she said.

Whatever happens, syndicated ethics columnist Randy Cohen sees a different problem. He takes no issue with possible pot smoking — only with what he sees as hypocrisy implicit in Phelps’ apology.

“So the guy smokes pot,” Cohen said. “For once I’d like someone to say, ’Yeah, I smoke pot, it’s harmless and I enjoy it.”’ Instead, he said, Phelps is lying by pretending he’ll never do it again.

As for whether Phelps is a role model for kids, Cohen dismisses the notion that any athlete or celebrity, for that matter, should be seen that way.

“The people who should be shaping our kids’ conduct are parents, friends, people they know in the community,” Cohen said. “Michael Phelps’ glory is that he’s an incredibly talented swimmer. Unless your child happens to be a fish, why do you want him to be a role model?”