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If there's any indirect way I can motivate or inspire Olympic athletes... that is one of the greatest honors. Even Natalie Coughlin saying that I inspired her. I'm so humbled by that. I think that's amazing.
I can't eat beans - all beans. I think because I'm half Cuban. So growing up, we were always eating black beans and rice, and I think I just said, 'Enough with it,' and I can't even stand to taste it anymore.
Whenever I go out with a girl for a meal, I'm recognised, and I hear, 'That's Chad's girl,' before anyone even approaches for a picture. I can't take arrogance and rude behaviour, and I really get a lot of it.
I have so much to learn when it comes to running. I just don't ever want it to feel like a chore. When I choose to sign up for a race or go out for a run, it's to make myself feel good, and I almost always do.
Those who truly have the spirit of champions are never wholly happy with an easy win. Half the satisfaction stems from knowing that it was the time and the effort you invested that led to your high achievement.
I knew all these people had the same goals I did, but the one that worked the hardest would come out on top. That's what drove me all the time. But I had fun. I did better every day, and that's what made it fun.
If he wins seven golds and ties what I did, then it would be like I was the first man on the moon and he became the second. If he wins more than seven, then he becomes the first man on Mars. We'd both be unique.
At a very young age, I wrote down the goals that I had so I could always see what I wanted to accomplish. And I would look at that goal sheet and think "I still want to do this."So I'd decide "I'm not quitting."
Id go to swim practice, put my face in the water, and I didnt have to talk to anybody. Swimming was like my escape, but it was also like this huge prison because I felt like I had to swim up to peoples standards.
The truth about myself? I'm obstinate, self-assured, ambitious and sloppy. I think I lead a quite normal life, certainly with five hours of trainig per day. Many people would probably be surprised if they met me.
I think now I'll probably take a few days off and enjoy the competition and then sit down with a few people and work out what is next, work out what the next preparation will be and what competition will be next.
My best race is the 100 fly, but for the 50 you just have to go really fast one way so I really like it too. It's not the same strategy. For the 50 I just breathed once, so it's really different from the 100 fly.
A player is someone - a guy - that messes with girls' emotions just to try and get what they want. I've been asked, 'Do you consider yourself a player?' And the answer is no. I don't think I'm anywhere near that.
Quite simply, my diet has and will always be everything in moderation. People look at Olympic athletes and think they must cut out all those things everyone else indulges in, and speaking for myself, I never did.
I hope I give girls an opportunity to realize that they can swim and go to school at the same time. It's not to be given up once they get out of high school. They can continue doing it for the rest of their lives.
I came back late last night at the Athlete's Village so I'm a little bit surprised about my time this morning. It's really good and I'm going to race tonight and tomorrow night so I'm excited to see what I can do.
In my day, at 12 years old, which was 38 years ago, we worked out in summer months for two and a half hours. Today someone in that age group might work out for four hours, two hours in the morning and two at night
In my day, at 12 years old, which was 38 years ago, we worked out in summer months for two and a half hours. Today someone in that age group might work out for four hours, two hours in the morning and two at night.
I'd go to swim practice, put my face in the water, and I didn't have to talk to anybody. Swimming was like my escape, but it was also like this huge prison because I felt like I had to swim up to people's standards.
I am not going to allow myself not to perform well just because I don't feel well. I am bulletproof to the extent that a lot of things can be thrown at me, but it's about how much I am prepared to let them affect me
It's spelled J-E-A-H. If you say it like how it's spelled it's ‘jee-ah.’ But, that's boring; no one wants to hear that. So you have to really put that emphatis [sic] on that ‘J.’ And then the ‘A-H’ kinda just flows.
Swimming is great because there are levels of goals. First, when I was four, it was making it to the other end and overcoming the fear of standing up in front of everybody at a swim meet because I was such a shy kid.
Protein is important and hard for me to get in a hurry. We're busy. I don't always remember to thaw the chicken for dinner. I always have eggs, and they're light and satisfying. I never feel stuffed at the end of it.
When people say that kids change your life, it's no small feat what they do. I've stressed about competition my whole life, but the minute I held my son Blaise in my arms for the first time, those stresses diminished.
I'm a part of a program called Toyota's Engines of Change Program. The message is that anyone can make a difference in their community or for whatever cause they feel strongly about. Everyone can be an Engine of Change.
At my 30th birthday party, one of my best friends gave a toast and said I'd been waiting for that day since I was 13. Everyone laughed, but he was right! Life continues to get more fun, more surprising, more delightful.
I grew up in an area of a lot of growth, in Orange County, California, and spent most of my youth on the beach. I had witnessed the degradation of our Back Bay and the increased number of closed beach days over the years.
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.
We're all hoping to drop at least a few seconds in the finals. There's a lot of girls that didn't even swim this morning that will be racing us tonight, so we are going to be in the mindset that we are still just as fresh.
To be here, is a dream come true. A dream is something that you set for yourself, not what other people set for you. When I qualified in Seville I burst into tears. I couldn't believe that I was going to the Olympic Games.
What I want to say is that nobody is unbeatable. There's a kid out there who probably wants to beat me. I train hard and try to be the best that I can be, but I don't disrespect my opponents. I am not disillusioned, either.
I think for me I've always loved being in the water and I love training and I love being at the pool so you know it's not a chore for me to go training, but come race day I would never just train to train - I train to race.
Thinking about your training should put a smile on your face. As cliche as it sounds, you are worth all the time and energy you've put in. Unleash your emotions with a cheer, or even a signature roar, after a tough workout.
No matter what I'm doing, I'm training. I'm training every day and I think that's something I won't lose - no matter what I do, no matter what event I'm at, I always find a way to train. It's just something that I love to do.
I think the best thing I can hope to achieve is to educate, or make aware, as many people as possible on how the little things they do every day really do affect our environment, and how easy it is to fix some of those things.
We don't swim for the attention. We don't swim to be rock stars. There is something beautiful about being in an anonymous sport and being fairly anonymous. It enables you do something you love without any of the other effects.
I think we all have a lot of room to drop and our takeovers were really safe so tonight we're still going to be safe but a little bit more risky than we were this morning and see if we can get our hand on the wall for a medal.
For as long as I wanted to swim, I also wanted to do something on TV. My best friend in high school, we used to pretend like we had a TV show, and we had this dream of being the next 'Kate Allie.' Having that kind of a shtick.
'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson - I used to have my very first dance parties with my kids to this song when they were little, even carried them around to it. It just makes you want to be a better person and be inspired.
Almost religiously, I step away from everything and close my eyes and breathe deeply for a few moments. It helps solidify my focus and aligns everything in my body to take care of the task at hand - which is winning, of course.
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul. With a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal. Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale they say. He was made of snow but the children know how he came to life one day.
Social media provides us the opportunity to think before we 'speak', giving us a better shot at reasoned dialog. So it's not a huge surprise to me that not only can real communication happen, but real relationships can blossom.
For my parents to let me turn down the money that I have been offered to go pro, it's unbelievable. They want me to enjoy my senior year in high school. I am so excited to be a senior, finally. It doesn't get more fun than that.
For as long as I wanted to swim, I also wanted to do something on TV. My best friend in high school, we used to pretend like we had a TV show, and we had this dream of being the next 'Kate & Allie.' Having that kind of a shtick.
I would encourage you to set really high goals. Set goals that, when you set them, you think they're impossible. But then every day you can work towards them, and anything is possible, so keep working hard and follow your dreams.
Other nights ... I visualize to the point that I know exactly what I want to do: dive, glide, stroke, flip, reach the wall, hit the split time to the hundredth, then swim back again for as many times as I need to finish the race.
I knew what my times were and how my practices were progressing and how close I was to the goals I had set for the year. I swam hard. I always swam hard. If I didn't, I knew I would pay for it either the next day or the next meet.
I worked at this place called Water World; it was a waterslide park. My brother and my dad framed my first paycheck from this place - which was for $0.00 dollars - because I didn't even make enough to cover the cost of my uniform!
Sometimes when my mom finds a fun article and really wants me to read it, I will. But I prefer to just kind of focus on what I want to do and not really what other people are saying, because I don't want that to affect me too much.
It's going to be a busy meet for me, I knew that coming in, so I'm just trying to go through all my recovery strategies. Just forget about the last race and move onto the next. Hopefully I swam fast enough to get in, but we'll see.