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.

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

I don’t want to be the next Mark Spitz; I want to be the first Michael Phelps.

The problem with heart disease is the first symptom is often fatal.

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.

I got the stamina. I can close.

I want to test my maximum and see how much I can do. And I want to change the world of swimming.

My goal is one Olympic gold medal. Not many people in this world can say, ‘I’m an Olympic gold medalist.’

I won’t predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.

If I want to achieve the goals I’ve set, I’ve got to be in tip-top shape.

Why is it such a big deal what I’m swimming?

If you’re not on your ‘A’ game in our workouts every day, you’re going to get absolutely smoked.

I try to separate my personal life from swimming.

I live a pretty conservative life, so I probably really haven’t done anything crazy.

Yeah, my friends call me Mike, Michael or just my last name.

I love to race the best people in the world and the fastest people in the world.

Swimming is fun. It’s a lot funner than golf.

But a hero should be somebody who can lift up other people with his courage and dedication.

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