When people say to me, 'You're like the Anna Kournikova who wins,' I definitely take it as a compliment, because she's quite gorgeous.

I have kids. Unbeknownst to them, they are quick to snap me back to reality when I start feeling the pressure of being an athlete! It's a breath of fresh air to have two people to focus on; their happiness erases all the pressures I have on myself.

I know that I do deserve good things.

I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let the other swimmers think about me, not me about them.

I'm a firm believer in slowing down to improve my state of mind when I'm training, and yoga and meditation have been paramount to my success in this way.

Like anyone, I stress and get hard on myself from time to time, but it's minute compared to the pressure I used to put on myself to perform and succeed. To my kids' credit, they've probably helped me the most here: I'm more worried about what they're doing than what I'm doing!

Id go to swim practice, put my face in the water, and I didnt have to talk to anybody. Swimming was like my escape, but it was also like this huge prison because I felt like I had to swim up to peoples standards.