BALTIMORE — Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, have formed a partnership to operate the pool where the Olympic swimmer began training at age 7.

Their partnership, Aquatic Ventures LLC, formally announced Friday that it is taking over at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center and the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which produced Phelps and six other Olympians over four decades.

"We're just very excited to be home," Bowman said. "This is our home."

Bowman said he and Phelps will continue to balance the center's offerings between recreational and competitive swimming. Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in August, will be busy with training once the new year begins, but he'll be more involved in decisions as time goes on, Bowman said.

"One of the things we're excited about is using Meadowbrook as a chance to expand our programs to swimmers of all varieties," Bowman said. The first thing they want to do is get reacquainted with the people at the center, Bowman said, but they'll also assess the facilities and programs and make some upgrades.

Bowman began coaching Phelps at NBAC when he was 11. After the Athens Olympics in 2004, where Phelps won six gold medals, the swimmer followed Bowman to the University of Michigan, where he was head coach of the men's swim team. Now they are returning to Baltimore together.

The long-term lease and operation license agreement was signed this week and the completion of the deal was first reported by the (Baltimore) Sun. Bowman declined to disclose how much the deal was for.

It means Bowman and Phelps will operate the facility for five years or more with an option to buy it in the future, said Meadowbrook owner and NBAC founder Murray Stephens.

"It's a good way for them to get started into pool ownership and management," he said.

Bowman will continue to coach Phelps and other swimmers in addition to his duties as NBAC's chief executive officer.

"We will continue our mission to develop Olympic level swimmers in concert with our community focus," Phelps and Bowman said in statement released Friday. "The scope of our program will always be greater than solely training competitive swimmers."