The Olympics was a goal, and definitely, swimming in college was a goal.
I swam for the county when I was 12. You wouldn't think it to look at me now, but I'm as graceful as a seal.
Why is it such a big deal what I'm swimming?
Popov was double Olympic champion in '92 and '96, and then Gary Hall came along and won in 2000 and 2004, and I would be the next on the list. That's a good goal, to have my name on that list alongside these guys.
I'm still swimming.
British swimming have created that environment where it is very friendly. And I think it is part of our sporting culture. Rainy Sunday, you go to the local swimming pool.
Michael Phelps wouldn't have been on the Wheaties box if I stuck with swimming. I've been swimming since I was a little kid. I still swim. I'm the best.
I'm a really good swimmer.
Because I was a champion swimmer in Canada, they're always trying to get me in the water in movies! I've drawn the line now with this film. No more water!
My whole swimming career was about training to beat Michael Phelps in any race I possibly could.
I race six events. I specialise in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, and it's not impossible, but it is hard to be able to race every single race, and day after day as well.
The swimmers ask me all the time 'is it going to be on telly more?' They want their families to watch them. Not every family can afford to go to Rio or Budapest. And it is nice for the clubs and coaches as well to see the people they have brought up.
I think for most people it's hard to understand what it is about swimming - I mean it's such a solo endeavour.
The newspapers loved pinup pictures of pretty young swimmers, and as a national champion, I got more than my share of space in the sports pages.
No one ever watched competitive swimming.
All things being equal, if we could simulate the same scenario, he has a lot more difficult task. He's elected to swim six individual events, as opposed to what I elected to do, which was four.
You're either an Olympian or not in swimming.
My family had a membership to the Riverside Yacht Club where my brother, Sandy, learned to sail, and I competed in local swim races. My sister, Marcia, became a competitive springboard diver, and my brother excelled in water polo.
I was the only swimmer in movies. Tarzan was long gone, and he couldn't have done them anyway; he could never have gotten into my bathing suit.
There's not that many great swimmers from Brooklyn.
If there is a sport that I'm not particularly fond of, then it is synchronized swimming.
Growing up, I was a water baby. We lived near a lake, had a pool in our backyard, and as soon as I was old enough, I joined a swim team. By 10, I was winning local events.
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.
