It was really exciting. It's kind of bittersweet in a way because I love swimming, but it's a really happy occasion too. But at the same time we just know that we have so many more things to accomplish than that dual meet.

Drury is our main rival every year at nationals, so obviously it's really exciting to get this one out ahead of time and see where everyone is at this point in the season.

I think it's opened our minds to a lot of new ways to train, and I think it's really showing that we are in great shape, probably better shape than we have been in at this point in the season ever. It's still a lot of hard work, but I think we are all starting to kind of begin to believe in his style of coaching.

I love the immediacy of those old analog machines; it's really inspiring. You just set them up to play, and they go, playing the same thing until you switch the pattern.

She won’t love again in the same unbridled way; she’ll never feel the sharp brightness of her own personality when he gazes upon her, when he draws a spotlight over her and she responds, fully illuminated.

We’d read about sirens in English this fall; Greek mythology bullshit about women so beautiful, their voices so enchanting, that men did anything for them. Turned out that mythology crap was real because every time I saw her, I lost my mind.