Swimming is probably the ultimate of burnout sports.

I am overwhelmed by the strength of my body and the power of my mind. For one moment, just one second, I feel immortal.

Swimming is probably the ultimate of burnout sports. It's ironic because millions of people who swim as their regular exercise love the meditation aspect of it; you don't wind up with any orthopedic injuries. But when you swim at a world class level for hours and hours - the loneness of the long distance runner.

This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.

Just getting in the pool for seven straight hours is unbearable to me.... It's grueling. There's nothing physically pleasurable about it. If you're doing a hard workout, you're throwing up in the gutter. At night you cling to your pillow and just hope that your body revives before you have to go back and do it again.

When you reach for the horizon, as I've proven, you may not get there, but what a tremendous build of character and spirit that you lay down. What a foundation you lay down in reaching for those horizons.

The integrity and self-esteem gained from winning the battle against extremity are the richest treasures in my life