I always wanted to be a dentist from the time I was in high school, and I was accepted to dental school in the spring of 1972. I was planning to go, but after the Olympics there were other opportunities.

I got beat real hard and heavy in the Olympic Games in 1968 by a guy who swam an incredible race one time in his whole life, but he did it right at the right time. I'd like to be that guy now. Maybe that's what I'm going to have to pull out of my hat to make the Olympic team.

I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost - it is.

If you are relaxing and subconsciously thinking about your coming race, you are going to perform at just about 100 percent efficiency.

If you have a lane, you have a chance.

By making a comeback, I'm changing the attitude of people toward me. If I'd known that people would react so enthusiastically, I'd have done it years ago.

I walked away from the sport for 17 years, then started swimming again recently in a master's program.