Brian Phelps competed in diving when he was only 16 years old at the 1960 Olympics. He later won gold medals in platform diving at the 1962 and 1966 Commonwealth Games. He later met and married Monica Rutherford, who competed for Great Britain at the 1964 Olympics in gymnastics. After their competitive retirement they opened the OLGA Trampoline Club in the south of England and later trained many international competitors in that sport.
In January 2008, Phelps was arraigned on charges of rape, attempted rape, and 19 indecent assaults on females under the age of 15, all of which were alleged to have occurred between 1976 and 1986. He later admitted to multiple charges of indecent sexual assault, and in May 2008, he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three young girls at his gymnastics club during the 1970s and 1980s. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.