The memories of the Munich games for me are of triumph and tragedy.
— Mark Spitz
I got beat real hard and heavy in the Olympic Games in 1968 by a guy who swam an incredible race one time in his whole life, but he did it right at the right time. I'd like to be that guy now. Maybe that's what I'm going to have to pull out of my hat to make the Olympic team.
What it is saying is that someone who was a world champion and who takes care of himself with a 17-year rest and applies the proper training techniques and perseverance could be successful.
It has nothing to do with swimming. That happens to be my sport. I'm trying to see how far I can go.
So in my mind I own a lot of house records still.
When I went to the Olympics, I had every intention of shaving the mustache off, but I realized I was getting so many comments about it - and everybody was talking about it - that I decided to keep it.
Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success.
The only side effect of too much training is that you get into better shape. There is nothing wrong with that.
I wasn't able to lower my cholesterol so they put me on a statin drug. It is called lipitor. I was able to lower my level in about 30 days from above 300 to below 200.
Swimming isn't everything, winning is.
The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude.
If you fail to prepare, you're prepared to fail.
I'm at the depot, and I'm not going anywhere. That's better to deal with than having to deal with the unknown. And the unknown is they don't want to fail. They don't want to pay the price unless there's a guarantee they're going to get there.
Everyone loves to be loved.
One of the most difficult things for people who have been successful in sports is adapting to the daily world where you can't get an answer from someone until 5 o'clock tomorrow. There is always an excuse. Living 40 or 50 years like that doesn't get too exciting after a while.
I walked away from the sport for 17 years, then started swimming again recently in a master's program.
All things being equal, if we could simulate the same scenario, he has a lot more difficult task. He's elected to swim six individual events, as opposed to what I elected to do, which was four.
Yes, I believe that the art of winning is through intimidation, and not necessarily do you have to speak about it.
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.
There are times I might coach one or two workouts a year when the regular coach gets caught in traffic.
I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm not concerned with tomorrow, but with what goes on today.
My biggest loss was the Olympics. I just can't forget losing. I never will.
Life is true to form; records are meant to be broken.
Because a known fact is better than an unknown fact.
By making a comeback, I'm changing the attitude of people toward me. If I'd known that people would react so enthusiastically, I'd have done it years ago.
In everyday life there is always manana. There is no urgency.
I always wanted to be a dentist from the time I was in high school, and I was accepted to dental school in the spring of 1972. I was planning to go, but after the Olympics there were other opportunities.
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.
I am not qualified to talk about the diet. Simply because I am not a dietician.
And if you have high cholesterol, you would feel the same as if you had low cholesterol because there are no side effects, no symptoms of having high cholesterol.
Well my thoughts on American swimming are that our prospects look favorable, but we may not have as strong a showing in the gold medal count as in previous Olympics. But I am not coaching.
I just tried to keep my cool and continue with my race plan: to win.
I swam my brains out.
