From age eleven to age sixteen I lived a spartan life without the usual adolescent uncertainty. I wanted to be the best swimmer in the world, and there was nothing else.

You're never too old to chase your dream.

My mom just died. We blink and another decade passes. I don't want to reach the end of my life and regret not having given my days everything in me to make them worthwhile.

A lot of athletes have this sort of invincibility: [The jellyfish] should worry about me. I don't worry about them. I'll just swim right through them.

There is... nothing greater than touching the shore after crossing some great body of water knowing that I've done it with my own two arms and legs.

The spirit is larger than the body. The body is pathetic compared to what we have inside us

I wanted to teach myself some life lessons at the age of 60 and one of them was that you don't give up.