When I Race, I Don't Think About

I'm Fortunate To Have An Amazing, Strong Mother Who Is So Supportive Of Everything Me And My Sisters Did Growing Up - But She Was Someone Who Never Forced Us To Go Swim Or To Go Do This Or That. She Helped Us Think About Certain Consequences When We Needed To, But We Made Our Own Decisions. I Think If I Were Forced To Swim, I Wouldn't Have Stayed In The Pool As Long As I Did.

There Is A One Woman In China That Claimed She Paid $50 To Get My E-mail Address. It Was Pretty Shocking. I Got One This Morning From Scotland. A Girl's Requesting A Signed Photo Of Me.

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.

I Would Visualize The Best- And Worst-case Scenarios. Whether I Get Disqualified Or My Goggles Fill Up With Water Or I Lose My Goggles Or I Come In Last, I'm Ready For Anything.

I Think With Practice, You Can Being Whatever You Want To Be, And With A Goal You Can Go In Any Direction That You Want To Go In.