my life will never be where you think you can find it--too bad for me

there is no regret to try then fail, than to fail without giving a try.

I fell over twice. It was loud. The garden was black outside our circle of light. The endless night stretched all around us, so we told each other that we had to be close together, together in the dark.

Whenever you are sad and confined, be dare not to run away from reality. But rather be a bird free from its cage, a prisoner liberated from its chain, and a juvenile that is young wild and free.

In Athens I was 17 and I didn't have any expectations. I was just swimming fast and racing everybody. I didn't have the joy after my races in 2007. I didn't want to go to Beijing. I had to for sponsors.

Even if I flop, I still qualified for the Games, and that was my goal. My target was to be at an Olympics for the third time with people I like.