I like to just think of myself as a normal person who just has a passion, has a goal and a dream and goes out and does it. And that's really how I've always lived my life.

I felt comfortable in the water. I was in my own world, focused. I love sports and I'm a very goal-oriented person. Once I started falling in love with sports, it was easy. I was able to put my mind on something and go for it. That's how I am with everything, it doesn't matter what it is that I do. If I want to do something, nothing will stand in my way.

When you use your imagination anything can happen.

Before the (Olympic) trials I was doing a lot of relaxing exercises and visualization. And I think that that helped me to get a feel of what it was gonna be like when I got there. I knew that I had done everything that I could to get ready for that meet, both physically and mentally

We need to make seeing a therapist more accessible; we've got to crack down on this and allow people the opportunity to seek help. It's going to be a game-changer. I would love people to become more vulnerable and reach out and ask for help. I would never want somebody to go through the feelings I had, almost exactly three years ago, of not wanting to be alive. That's a scary thing, and to think of where I am today compared to that - that's way bigger than winning a gold medal.

Every day after I wake up, I think, 'Wait... this can't be real; I'm still going to wake up.'

[Phelps] firmly denies that he takes drugs, suggesting that the notorious photo of him smoking from a bong was a one-time lapse of judgment.