[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.

I try to separate my personal life from swimming.

[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.

For recovery, I think it's a big deal to eat within a half-hour after you exercise. Otherwise I just try to put carbs into my system before I swim and then load up on the protein after. I don't count calories. Whether it's Sour Patch Kids or Reese's or a bag of chips, if I feel like eating it, I'm going to eat it.

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

One thing with me, and every goal I've had - in the sport of swimming, my mother didn't know my goals. The only person that knew my goals were my coaches.

I treat every race the same. We all wanted to swim fast today and give something back to the crowd.