If you want me to swim fast, you have to let me enjoy my life.

In swimming, everyone calls me grandma, because I'm the oldest there. Then with my friends, I'm the youngest and I'm the baby. It's definitely bizarre.

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.

My performance has improved dramatically from yoga and meditation. No athlete ever dominated by sticking to one sport all the time.

Breaking composure, confidence, and speed in the water makes you lose the race, not the goggles that fell off your head when you dove in.

Almost religiously, I step away from everything and close my eyes and breathe deeply for a few moments. It helps solidify my focus and aligns everything in my body to take care of the task at hand - which is winning, of course.

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.