I finished my career the way I wanted to.
I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.
It doesn't matter what else is going on. When you walk into your arena or your - whatever you excel at, you're there to take care of the job that you have to do.
Obviously for water safety, you want to learn just to be comfortable in the water; that's the main goal. I think the second that you start freaking out and feeling uncomfortable, it's not going to go well.
I am 26 and, and I don't recover as fast as I have in the past.
I think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it's kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history.
I was very fortunate at a young age to learn what goal setting is and how to take time and spend it the right way. I have a lot going on now, but I want my family to have everything I had growing up and more, and yeah, for me to do that there are times when I need to jump on a plane and travel around the world in a week. But also, it's like, if I start getting burnt out, I know when I need to take a break. Your body tells you; just listen to what your heart is saying.
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.
The problem with heart disease is the first symptom is often fatal.
I feel like Aaron brings out the best in me
I've always been fortunate in that I've been able to put myself in my own zone and relax. It comes naturally. I'm lucky to be that way
I've been able to get an excitement back in the water.
I don't want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps
I'm the same kind of guy before all this happened.
I have the opportunity to be part of swimming history. To take the sport to a new level would be an honor for me. There's no better time to try this than now.
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's such a high stigma around talking about your feelings or insecurities because, especially for men, we don't want to show that "weakness." But I'm always like, "OK, what would you rather do: Show weakness and get better, or continue to get worse and who knows where that leads?" There's something behind the suicide rate continuing to climb year after year. Why don't we ask for help?
I got the stamina. I can close.
Records are made to be broken.
Swimming is normal for me. I'm relaxed. I'm comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It's my home.
[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.
If I want to achieve the goals I've set, I've got to be in tip-top shape.
When I race, I don't think about it; it just happens.
I learned how fast you can go from being an international hero to being a reference in a joke on a late night talk show.
My strategy is that I actually have absolutely no strategy.
