I just always really wanted to swim. It was always a family thing: dad obviously swam, and my sister did, too. And mum used to come along to meets. They had to drag me out of the pool - so there was never any pressure on me to swim. It was just something I loved doing.
Back in my mind, I never, ever wanted to give up swimming; it was something that I would carry on with.
After my swims this weekend I think coach realized, you know what, you have to have a good one getting out of this meet. So I put the suit on and had a decent swim.
When I'm preparing for a swim, I imagine absolutely everything about it: the color of the water, how cold it is, the taste of salt in my mouth. I visualize each and every stroke.
I joined the swim team when I was 12, and I was the worst kid in the pool - I was put with a group of 7-year-olds.
I was bribed into starting swimming with the promise of sweets and by being told that you can win medals. My mum had given me a bag of medals which she had won when she was young, so the idea of winning medals was very exciting.
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.
There's just something about that cold rush that I know I hate and a lot of other swimmers hate.
I think for most people it's hard to understand what it is about swimming - I mean it's such a solo endeavour.
I want people to see the passion I have for swimming and become more involved in the sport.
I love standing up behind the blocks, and I love that moment just before you dive in and it goes quiet, and you take a deep breath and you just dive, and then you try and win, but that moment just before I go, that's why I race.
Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die. And when I'm swimming, sometimes I'm not sure which one it is.
Even in high school, I'd tell my mom I was sick of swimming and wanted to try to play golf. She wasn't too happy. She'd say, 'Think about this.' And I'd always end up getting back in the pool.
I started swimming when I was four because my brother wanted to join a swim team, and I wanted to do what he did. They said I had to be six, but if I could swim a lap, then I could participate. So I swam a lap, and the rest is history.
I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer when I was growing up.
It really was my brother who got me involved in swimming. I wanted to be just like him and do everything he was doing.
A huge part of swimming for me is I love it, and it is so much fun.
It's always great to see young swimmers and their excitement and the joy that they have in the water.
