If I want to achieve the goals I've set, I've got to be in tip-top shape.
I live a pretty conservative life, so I probably really haven't done anything crazy.
We wanted to see how close we could get to the world record. We'll take that for right now.
If you're not on your 'A' game in our workouts every day, you're going to get absolutely smoked.
I don't want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps
I won't predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.
Swimming is more than a once-every-four-years sport. My goal is to bring attention to swimming - to give it some personality.
I feel most at home in the water. I disappear. That's where I belong.
If you say "can't" you're restricting what you can do or ever will do.
I can't remember the last day I didn't train.
Nobody is going to put a limit on what I'm doing.
Every day is different and every day brings something more exciting.
The one thing that's common to all successful people: They make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don't like to do.
You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.
If you want to be the best you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do.
There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work... THERE ARE NO LIMITS.
If I didn’t swim my best, I’d think about it at school, at dinner, with my friends. It would drive me crazy.
I don’t like to be second in anything. I was trying, I just wasn’t going anywhere.
I’m so sick of the water.
I finished my career the way I wanted to.
I believe in God; I’m not saying I’m highly religious.
I always thought, it would be neat to make the Olympic team.
Before, it came easy for me. I don’t have two speeds anymore. I need to focus on the small things that I once took for granted.
I’m the same kind of guy before all this happened.
Once I retire, I’m retiring. I’m done.
I used to always go to church on holidays, but I don’t go much any more.
I am 26 and, and I don’t recover as fast as I have in the past.
It’s cool just because I’ve had this dream of changing the sport of swimming and it’s finally happening.
Not having to travel and being able to settle in has helped me in training life and school life. I’ve learned to get a grip and take care of myself.
I wanted to do something nobody ever did. This goes hand in hand with my goal of changing swimming.
I treat every race the same. We all wanted to swim fast today and give something back to the crowd.
My strategy is that I actually have absolutely no strategy.
I feel like Aaron brings out the best in me.
Once I’m already in my room, I still have to open a door to get into my bed. It’s like a giant box. It’s like the boy in a bubble.
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.
I see my goals as personal and I always have. That’s just been how I’ve worked.
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.
I’ve been able to get an excitement back in the water.
This is the first medal I’ve ever won in an international meet. For it to be gold is incredible. It feels great. I can’t explain it.
I think the biggest things I am looking forward to is getting new faces into the sport. Getting kids who could be afraid of water to feel comfortable in the pool.
I consider myself normal. I’ve spent 20 years in the pool. I consider that something that’s normal.
So, you know, if, if I wanted to get up and just play golf one day, I would just get up and play golf. If I wanted to go to Vegas, I would just get up and go to Vegas.
We wanted to see how close we could get to the world record. We’ll take that for right now.
My mom put me and my sisters in the water to feel comfortable, to have water safety.
You can make a million mistakes, just not the same one twice.
You’re tired; you feel you can’t move; you’re truly hurting. That’s when he would throw down especially hard sets.
I want to change the sport of swimming. I want people to talk about it, think about it, and look forward to seeing it. I want them to want to jump in and do it. That’s my goal.” After.
Every day after I wake up, I think, ‘Wait... this can’t be real; I’m still going to wake up.
But a hero should be somebody who can lift up other people with his courage and dedication.
Swimming is fun. It’s a lot funner than golf.
I love to race the best people in the world and the fastest people in the world.
Yeah, my friends call me Mike, Michael or just my last name.
I live a pretty conservative life, so I probably really haven’t done anything crazy.
I try to separate my personal life from swimming.
If you’re not on your ‘A’ game in our workouts every day, you’re going to get absolutely smoked.
Why is it such a big deal what I’m swimming?
I have reached a place in my life where I need to sit down and say, ‘Well, what do I do? What’s best for me?’ I need to look into options for the future.
If I want to achieve the goals I’ve set, I’ve got to be in tip-top shape.
I won’t predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.
My goal is one Olympic gold medal. Not many people in this world can say, ‘I’m an Olympic gold medalist.’
I want to test my maximum and see how much I can do. And I want to change the world of swimming.
I got the stamina. I can close.
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.
The problem with heart disease is the first symptom is often fatal.
I don’t want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps.
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 say “can’t” you’re restricting what you can do or ever will do.
I like to get in my own world. When I’m getting ready for a meet, I always have headphones on, listening to rap music to get myself fired up.
We’re all a little tired.
I’m kind of a creature of habit. Once I get used to doing things, it’s like second nature.
It’s the Olympics. If you can’t get up to swim early in the morning, don’t go.
Swimming is normal for me. I’m relaxed. I’m comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It’s my home.
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.
You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.
Perseverance, determination, commitment, and courage-those things are real. The desire for redemption drives you.
I can’t remember the last day I didn’t train.
The more you dream the more you achieve.
I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.
The one thing that’s common to all successful people: They make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don’t like to do.
It’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish.
Things can change in the blink of an eye!
When you use your imagination anything can happen.
Nobody is going to put a limit on what I’m doing.
If you put your mind to anything that you dream, you can achieve it.
There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work…there are no limits.
My mum and I joke that I had a middle school teacher who said I’d never be successful.
I think with practice, you can be whatever you want to be, and with a goal you can go in any direction that you want to go in.
Records are always made to be broken no matter what they are. Anybody can do anything that they set their mind to.
Nothing is impossible. With so many people saying it couldn’t be done, all it takes is an imagination.
Dream as big as you can dream, and anything is possible.
Perseverance, determination, commitment, and courage – those things are real. The desire for redemption drives you.
If you’re not serious about training, conditioning, and practice. You’re not serious about being your best.
It doesn’t matter what else is going on. When you walk into your arena or you – whatever you excel at. You’re there to take care of the job that you have to do.
If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren’t willing to do.
I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.