When I'm focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything that can stand in the way of my doing something. There is not. If I want something bad enough, I feel I'm gonna get there.

Being compared to Ian Thorpe, that could be one of the greatest compliments you could ever get in swimming - being compared to him and Mark Spitz.

People say to me, 'You're so lucky. You get to see the world.' But I don't. I go to the hotel and to the pools and back again. That's it.

I don't want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps

I'm satisfied in a way because this is an eye opener for me, ... I didn't have the success I've always been able to have. I learned a lot.

I used to always go to church on holidays, but I don't go much any more.

Once I retire, I'm retiring. I'm done.