I'm thrilled to be honored like this because this is my first year and I didn't really expect it. But I was handed a very strong and competitive group of girls. It was exciting they openly accepted me as their coach, and we had a fun year.

We had a wonderful freshman class that stepped up for the seniors we lost, and I think that's why we surprised a lot of people this year. We're looking forward to being even more successful next year.

Claire puts a lot of hours in the pool and she works extremely hard, and because of that, she's developed a very efficient stroke; a very long, strong stroke that propels her through the water. She's also very competitive and hates to lose. She sets goals before every meet, and if she doesn't meet all of them, she's not happy. That's tremendous dedication. I think she's going to be a state champion some day.

As the time goes by, you change, your learn new things, your attitude is different. For the moment, I'm still enjoying ski racing so much that it would be difficult for me to think about ending my career.

At my age, you need to verify that everything is fine. I put a lot of pressure on my body, and I feel sometimes pain in my back and in my knees, so I have to be sure that I can keep on training hard before going on.

If I remain healthy, I can win more races, but I don't think so much about setting new records. I'm already proud to have become the leading Austrian World Cup racer.