Stephanie Rice Quotes

I knew what my times were and how my practices were progressing and how close I was to the goals I had set for the year. I swam hard. I always swam hard. If I didn't, I knew I would pay for it either the next day or the next meet.

I enjoy racing so much. Ever since I was 8 or 9, I trained every stroke, because it was the only way I could race a lot.

Athletes are extremists. When they're training, it's laser focus.

To be the best, you need to be the most well-trained and well-prepared athlete you can be. The pressure is going to be all around you. You just have to make sure that your body and mind is fine-tuned. Then you go out there and do it.

I just come to training, work hard, go home, prepare for the game, then play.

People only see two hours of a tennis match where you're fighting and running and sometimes getting upset. There's a lot more than those two hours. Going out there and playing is actually the easy part.

People deal with the concentration needed to do well in a two-hour race in different ways.

I often felt that I didn't train and race enough team sprint to get it right. You need to know that you've got a place to have that continuity of results. Am I in? Am I out of this one? That's tough.

I'm a competitor. I really enjoyed the race more than just going out and running to run.

In football, I need full concentration even though I really enjoy it.

I don't think about goals and records. Competition is what keeps me playing.

Swimming took up so much of my faculties, and for so long, I was willing to give it everything.

The world record will come to me when I run the world record race. I'm just trying to perfect my race. I'm looking for perfection.

I'm an athlete. I go out there and fight my heart out.

When I'm starting a race, I just completely narrow down my vision and focus on what's directly ahead of me.

I love the shot put because you win or lose by yourself. Either I get exposed, or I dominate. I always dominated because I trained to dominate.

I've been racing for my whole life, and I know what I need to do to be able to win.

To be number one, you must train like you are number two.

When I'm competing, I need to be strong.

A lot of times when I ran, to be honest, I didn't know where I was in the race. So I always was looking up at the scoreboard to say, 'Just call my name to see where I am,' because I tried to have such tunnel vision not to distract myself.

If I train well and stay focused, I'm confident I can deliver when the time comes.

I get bored. We seem to have been having a little bit more time off this winter than last winter. I'm always itching to get back in the car. It's going to get harder, so I've got to make sure that I'm doing everything I possibly can do to make sure I can start next season how I ended this season.

I don't know whether it's the athlete in me or the passion I have for the game: I always think that I can step back on the field and play.

After the 2013 World Championships, I had three goals for the Olympics: to swim 3:56 or better in the 400-meter freestyle, break 8:05 in the 800, and win gold in the 200. I achieved all of those, and soon, it will be time to set some new goals.

I only think of my practice and running as fast as I can.