“I want to test my maximum and see how much I can do. And I want to change the world of swimming.”

I think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it’s kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history.

Once I’m already in my room, I still have to open a door to get into my bed. It’s like a giant box. It’s like the boy in a bubble.

I have a lot of goals, but I think that I just want to take it day by day.

I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.

There were times I wouldn’t come to practice, because it didn’t excite me. It wasn’t interesting. I was kind of going through the motions.

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

I used to always go to church on holidays, but I don’t go much any more.

I haven’t swam in any of the rivers outside of Baltimore. I try to keep it in the pool.

Growing up in high school, I wasn’t hanging out with friends every day or on the weekends. Doing normal high school kid things was something I was willing to give up.

I usually try to eat lot of calories. With so many events, it is important to sustain a high level of energy through the entire meet. I usually eat two hours before a meet.

I can’t remember the last day I didn’t train.

You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.

I won’t predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.

I have reached a place in my life where I need to sit down and say, ‘Well, what do I do? What’s best for me?’ I need to look into options for the future.

Swimming is normal for me. I’m relaxed. I’m comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It’s my home.

Any Olympic sport is great to watch.

The first time I ever saw him play, Tre Cool was wearing a tutu and an old-womans swimming cap.

I feel it’s important to be active. People who retire, sit by their swimming pool and golf course and plan to relax have a very empty life.

I love the water more than anything. I’m not very good at sunbathing – I get really bored. I love swimming and I love being like a fish and getting in the sea and just – I don’t know, it feels right.

Water was something he loved, something he respected. He understood its beauty and its dangers. He talked about swimming as if it were a way of life.

Everything is grounded in mystery. Everything is swimming, and the stable does not exist.

Failure isn’t in not reaching your goal but in having no goal to reach.

To get ready to climb Everest, I did a lot of hill running with a daypack on and a lot of underwater swimming. I would swim a couple of lengths underwater and then a couple above. It gets your body going with limited oxygen.

I would give the cameras to the kids in the swimming pools and they would play with them, and then I would collect them and we would upload it. If you’re in the process, you’re there.