And, you know, being able to wear the stars and stripes, when you step up on one of the blocks or, you know, when you step off of an airplane or when you hear the national anthem play, you know, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world because you know that there are people at home who are supporting you and watching you.

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.

This is my 20th year in the sport. I've known swimming and that's it. I don't want to swim past age 30; if I continue after this Olympics, and come back in 2016, I'll be 31. I'm looking forward to being able to see the other side of the fence.

When I race, I don't think about it; it just happens.

Things won’t go perfect. It’s all about how you adapt from those things and learn from mistakes.

If you look at me, basically my whole entire life I've been around water. So when you look at a stat like, "If you leave the faucet running for two minutes while you brush your teeth you waste four gallons of water," to me that's mind-blowing. There are so many people that don't even have access to clean water, and people leave their faucets running. For me it was something that fit with things that I believe in.

I always have on my headphones to block out all of the other distractions and I'm just focused on doing the best that I can.... There a few of them ... DMX Party Up ... Mack 10 BC and Ice Cube Connected for Life. I also listen to the Eminem CD ...whichever song really gets me going that night