I try to separate my personal life from swimming.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.