Michael Phelps
Being able to do something that's never been done before, that's what I've always wanted to do. . . . There was nothing that was going to stand in my way of being the first.Collection: Done
If you're not on your 'A' game in our workouts every day, you're going to get absolutely smoked.Collection: Motivational
If you say "can't" you're restricting what you can do or ever will do.Collection: Can Do
Nothing is impossible. With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination.Collection: Inspirational
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.Collection: Thinking
For recovery, I think it's a big deal to eat within a half-hour after you exercise. Otherwise I just try to put carbs into my system before I swim and then load up on the protein after. I don't count calories. Whether it's Sour Patch Kids or Reese's or a bag of chips, if I feel like eating it, I'm going to eat it.Collection: Recovery
Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do.Collection: Sleep
When you use your imagination anything can happen.Collection: Imagination
Before the (Olympic) trials I was doing a lot of relaxing exercises and visualization. And I think that that helped me to get a feel of what it was gonna be like when I got there. I knew that I had done everything that I could to get ready for that meet, both physically and mentallyCollection: Motivational
I knew I was not a failure in any way, and so did those close to me. It doesn't matter if you fall short; it is never a failure to go after your goals with everything you've got.Collection: Fall
We need to make seeing a therapist more accessible; we've got to crack down on this and allow people the opportunity to seek help. It's going to be a game-changer. I would love people to become more vulnerable and reach out and ask for help. I would never want somebody to go through the feelings I had, almost exactly three years ago, of not wanting to be alive. That's a scary thing, and to think of where I am today compared to that - that's way bigger than winning a gold medal.Collection: Thinking
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."Collection: Thinking
Swimming is more than a once-every-four-years sport. My goal is to bring attention to swimming - to give it some personality.Collection: Sports
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.Collection: Wall
It's the Olympics. If you can't get up to swim early in the morning, don't go.Collection: Inspirational
I don't have a strict diet. It's all about cramming in as many calories into my system as I possibly can. To be honest with you, I have a tough time keeping weight on.Collection: Sports
If you look at me, basically my whole entire life I've been around water. So when you look at a stat like, "If you leave the faucet running for two minutes while you brush your teeth you waste four gallons of water," to me that's mind-blowing. There are so many people that don't even have access to clean water, and people leave their faucets running. For me it was something that fit with things that I believe in.Collection: Running
Swimming is fun. It's a lot funner than golf.Collection: Fun
You can't put a limit anything.Collection: Sports
I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.Collection: Sorry
Obviously for water safety, you want to learn just to be comfortable in the water; that's the main goal. I think the second that you start freaking out and feeling uncomfortable, it's not going to go well.Collection: Thinking
My mom never really pushed me into doing something. It was kind of whatever I wanted to do, and that was what made me continue and have the longevity that I had in my career. I went through ups and downs in the pool when I loved it and when I hated it.Collection: Mom
I've been around water my whole life, so I basically really learned at a young age the importance of it but also one day, at one point, clean water will be hard to find. There's so many people throughout the world that don't have access to clean water. Obviously we're extremely fortunate to have the opportunities that we have and to have all the water that we have. Like I said, and I can't say it enough, we all should work together to try and conserve as much as we possible can.Collection: Opportunity
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 upCollection: Motivational
Every day, there's always something to be worried about; you turn on the news and see something different every day, and it's terrible. Hopefully, as Americans, and as the inhabitants of the world, we can come together. We need to change lives - whether that's conserving water, destigmatizing mental health treatment or something else. We can change lives.Collection: Life Changing
If we can continue to come together and work on small things little by little, at least it's something. It's a start. At least now there's a lot more talk about climate change and the Earth's state than when I was a kid. I guess it's better late than never? But it's also very tricky because this is something that's so important to so many of us, and a lot of people don't see it that way. But hopefully, we can get all our points across to them - one by one, one person at a time.Collection: Kids
And I hope seeing a therapist becomes 10 times easier in the future. For me, once I came out of treatment, I got into a therapist and continued my road to recovery and health and happiness. But not everyone can do that. It's challenging to see a therapist when you work full-time, when you can't get an appointment within a week, and then by the time you do get one, maybe you feel like your "problem" has lessened and you don't bother to go in. It's about access.Collection: Recovery
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.Collection: Two
Coming into tonight, I knew it was going to be a great race, ... In the 400, Laszlo put up a 4:10.1 earlier in the year, and so you expect him to put up a good time in (the 200). I knew Ryan was going to be fast coming off his short course season, and he's improved a lot since Athens, so I just wanted to go out there and relax a bit and go out there and do what I had to do.Collection: Swimming
I treat every race the same. We all wanted to swim fast today and give something back to the crowd.Collection: Swimming
I wanted to get the fastest time in the world this year, but with everything going on, it's a pretty decent swim, ... I knew I was under world record pace. You could tell by the crowd. You can always tell at these meets when something good is going on because of the crowd.Collection: Swimming
When we got in the race, we knew what we had to do and knew what we wanted to do. Having three of four guys from the American record 800 free relay is a pretty solid relay, so we thought we could take a crack at the U.S. Open record tonight. We're all a little tired, but that's fifth-fastest American relay ever, so it's not a bad time. We ended tonight on a great note.Collection: Tired
I don't like to be second in anything. I was trying, I just wasn't going anywhere.Collection: Swimming
My strategy is that I actually have absolutely no strategy.Collection: Strategy
I'm kind of a creature of habit. Once I get used to doing things, it's like second nature.Collection: Kind
I always have on my headphones to block out all of the other distractions and I'm just focused on doing the best that I can.... There a few of them ... DMX Party Up ... Mack 10 BC and Ice Cube Connected for Life. I also listen to the Eminem CD ...whichever song really gets me going that nightCollection: Motivational
We wanted to see how close we could get to the world record. We'll take that for right now.Collection: Swimming
I love to race the best people in the world and the fastest people in the world.Collection: Inspirational
My little son is already like me - my mom has always said I used to bounce off the wall and never stop talking or sit still. I'm starting to see that with him. I guess it's living proof he's part of me.Collection: Mom
I'm pretty lazy. My wife always says, "you're the laziest, most successful Olympian I've ever seen." How does that make sense? Honestly, if I have downtime, I'm really, really good at not doing anything.Collection: Successful
I grew up around the pool with my sisters. Both of my sisters swam. I was always there. So I thought, why not? My mom put us in the water for water safety, so we were comfortable in the water in case anything ever happened. I learned that way, and started liking it more and more.Collection: Mom
I wanted to do something nobody ever did. This goes hand in hand with my goal of changing swimming.Collection: Swimming
It's tough to put into words right now, but I finished my career how I wanted to. Through the ups and downs of my career I've still been able to do everything that I've ever wanted to accomplish.Collection: Careers
We're all a little tired.Collection: Tired
With social media, so many people have anxiety and depression because of it. Of course technology is somewhat good, but it can present so many issues; more and more we're seeing what that's causing, and it's even leading to deaths. I just got finished doing a documentary called Anx with children talking about anxiety and recognizing their emotions and understanding them better. We need to let kids know it's OK to not be OK. And we need to help them be comfortable talking about it.Collection: Children
The only reason I started swimming was for water safety. Then, once I started falling in love with sports, I got more comfortable with it.Collection: Sports
There are so many things that I still want to do. My foundation, growing my brand . . . the list is endless. I'm honestly busier now than I was when I was swimming. It's kind of weird, but I feel like more of an adult because I have to do stuff every day. Whether it's checking emails or making phone calls or doing this and that, it's fun for me. It's the start of a new chapter. At times, it is frustrating, but I know it's not going to be easy to accomplish the goals that I want.Collection: Fun
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.Collection: School
I am excited to have the opportunity to help provide the same swim instruction that I received as a child when I was enrolled in a water safety class at five-years-old.Collection: Children