Michael Phelps has admitted that he messed up by smoking pot.

Perhaps the country can move on from this national nightmare now.

"I knew that I'd made a mistake and a bad judgment," the 14-time gold medalist told Matt Lauer in an interview that will air on Sunday's Dateline. "It was an awful judgment. The people I hurt, you know, is my family, clearly. My friends. The close people around me. And most importantly, the fans."

As for the incident itself, Phelps said he wasn't exactly re-enacting Animal House.

"I mean, we were just celebrating. It was a very small group... nothing major. You know, not like a giant college house party. It was nothing like that. It was just a small group and we were just sitting around and celebrating."

Phelps has lost the respect of some fans, along with the endorsement of Kellogg.

We presume he has continued to bang Caroline Pal, however.