Michael Phelps added two more gold medals to his unbelievable collection.

There have been many times over the course of his astonishing career when Michael Phelps has seemed superhuman.

Not least of all here in Rio, where, at the ripe old age of 31, he has won his first three finals, taking his overall Olympic Games gold medal haul to 21.

But although it may not seem obvious, Phelps is not the indefatigable athlete he was once.

The American is competing at his fifth Olympic Games. Years of torturous training sessions and busy competition schedules have taken their toll on his body.

Accordingly, Phelps has pared down his competition program in Rio, taking part in just three individual events: the 100m butterfly, the 200m butterfly and the 200m individual medley.

Not since the Sydney 2000 Games, where his sole event was the 200m butterfly, has Phelps had a lighter Olympic workload. And the benefits are already clear.

Significantly, two of Phelps' gold medals in Rio have come in events that he failed to win four years ago in London: the 200m butterfly and the 4x100m freestyle.

Fewer events have meant longer recovery times, which Phelps has admitted are more important as he gets older.

Even so, Phelps is still having to compete in semifinals and finals on the same night. He swam the final leg in the 4x100m freestyle relay final on Tuesday barely an hour after claiming the 200m butterfly title.

"That was probably one of my most challenging doubles," Phelps said afterwards. "Doing a double like that is a lot harder than it once was."

Phelps will have another quick turnaround on Thursday when he swims in the 200m individual medley final and then the semifinals of the 100m butterfly 30 minutes later.

His focus on quality rather than quantity coincides with a new found maturity. Once renowned for his hedonistic partying, Phelps has said his mindset changed following the birth of his son Boomer in May.

In the moments after his 200m butterfly success on Tuesday, Phelps climbed into the stands at the Olympic Aquatic Centre to kiss Boomer and his partner, Nicole Johnson.

The image of a proud and doting father cut a stark contrast to the mugshots that circulated in the world's media two years ago when Phelps was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

"For Sydney, I just wanted to make the team," Phelps said upon being named the USA's flag bearer before last week's Rio 2016 opening ceremony. "For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done.

"In London, I wanted to make history. And now, I want to walk in the opening ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way and make my family proud. This time around, it's about so much more than medals."

Rarely has the expression "less is more" seemed more appropriate.

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