My entire purpose is trying to be the best in the game, and if that exudes beauty too, that's pretty powerful.

I carry my iPod everywhere. My favorite group is the John Butler Trio, an Australian jam band. The lead singer and guitarist writes amazing lyrics.

I travel a lot and rarely make it home to Seattle.

Speech is the image of actions

With each year that's gone by, and as I grow up and get older, I've become more mature, of course, but you have a sense of who you are, and you find confidence in that.

It took putting one foot in front of the other every single day to get through it to the point where I made it back on the team and won a gold medal in 2008.

I am pushed by my critics. I don't want to say I want to prove them wrong, but it pushes me on the field to play with a chip on my shoulder, and I play best when I have a chip on my shoulder.