Swimming Career Quotes

I realise every swimmer has a shelf life. No, I haven't given any thought to when I will retire, but I also know I won't be able to swim forever.

I want to design my own clothing line. I'm very into fashion. It's something I really want to focus on when swimming is over.

I can't imagine what I would be doing if I wasn't swimming. It is what I want to do now; it is what I want to do in the foreseeable future, and that is what I'm focusing on.

I wasn't even born when dad swam in the Olympics. I've seen videos of some of his swims, although I don't think I've ever seen him in the Olympics. He's been a massive support right through my career, and it's good to have someone so close to talk to who knows all about what it's like to compete in an Olympic Games.

When I started this I wanted to get back in the pool, I wanted to race and I wanted to go to the Olympics. I still want to do all of those things.

This is my 20th year in the sport. I've known swimming and that's it. I don't want to swim past age 30; if I continue after this Olympics, and come back in 2016, I'll be 31. I'm looking forward to being able to see the other side of the fence.

Getting to the Olympics was, has always been, my swimming dream since I was 8 or 9 years old. You know, right after I started swimming it was, 'I want to make an Olympic team. That's where I want to be.'

My whole swimming career was about training to beat Michael Phelps in any race I possibly could.

I consider myself normal. I've spent 20 years in the pool. I consider that something that's normal.

When I was six, right before I started swimming, we went to a national competition here in Maryland and watched Michael Phelps swim, and I got to meet him afterwards, and I got his autograph. Fast forward nine years, and I'm at the Olympics with him, and it's like: 'Woah.'

Dad was a retired hedge fund manager who made enough millions to retire and focus on my game. Before that, he was on the 1984 U.S. Olympic swimming team. No medals. He was accustomed to winning at everything, but no medals in 1984.

I grew up a competitive swimmer. I wanted to go the Olympics. Both my parents were professional swimmers. I competed internationally quite often, right up until I moved to California to pursue music.

I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer when I was growing up.

I don't linger on the fact that Dawn Fraser was a great swimmer 40 years ago. That was in the past. I did break 41 world records, but I don't live on that today.

Throughout my whole swimming career, I've never been disqualified once. I've never been warned once.

In Athens I was 17 and I didn't have any expectations. I was just swimming fast and racing everybody. I didn't have the joy after my races in 2007. I didn't want to go to Beijing. I had to for sponsors.

I grew up in Florida, so you start swimming at the age of 1, really. By 10, I was competitive swimming, and by 12, I had aspirations to be the best in the world.