Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

LINCOLN, R.I. -- North Kingstown High School swimmer Elizabeth Beisel, a 2008 Olympics teammate of Michael Phelps, said he is still her "role model" despite the publication of a photo showing him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

The photo of Phelps, 23, taken at a student party in South Carolina in November, was published by the British tabloid News of the World. On Sunday Phelps, who reaped a record eight gold medals in Bejing, issued a statement saying he regretted his lapse in judgment.

Beisel, 15, commenting during a break in a swim meet between North Kingstown and Mount St. Charles Academy, at the Community College of Rhode Island on Monday, referred to speculation that the photo could cost Phelps millions of dollars in lucrative endorsements.

That, she said, could be "the price he has to pay for that picture."

 Tags  marijuana

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