Michael Phelps: I've been training probably the best I've trained in quite some time both here and also back in the States before we left, so I'm excited to get over to Beijing and start finally preparing myself for the games. I'm pretty confident right now with how the training's been going and I'm just ready to have some fun.
Question: This question if for Michael. What runs through your head while you're swimming?
Michael Phelps: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. One of the guys actually asked me today, when I push off, am I exhaling or am I holding my breath underwater? And my answer was, 'I have no idea.' I don't think about anything when I swim. I just get in the water and race.
Question: Dara, do your teammates take the mickey out of you for being in the Olympics in 1984?
Dara Torres: Take the what out of me? The mickey? [laughter] oh, teasing, um -Yeah, we actually had some skits the other night and out of the five skits I was teased three times and they were all sort of the same way that they teased me, um, with my headband, rolly bag and being older, but you know, I still have Michael calling me "mom" and other people on the team call me mom, and I get teased a little bit, but I think at first, a lot of the kids didn't know me, so they were kind of quiet around me. But now it's "hey come over, we want to gossip, we want to do our nails," so now I think I feel like I fit in a little bit with the team. But I am reminded that, I think like half the team wasn't even born when I swam my first Olympics, so I'm reminded of that every now and then.
Question: But that's fun, right?
Dara Torres: Oh yeah, I don't mind that.
Question: How is the team adjusting to the finals being in the morning?
Brendan Hansen: I think our approach as a team is, just being from the United States, our team, we're forced in the United States to swim fast every morning. How this team was brought up and was born from fast racing, at anytime, anyplace, anywhere. We're at an advantage because we challenge each other every time we get up on the blocks to race, whether it's in the morning or in the afternoon at every meet in the United States. And like Eric was saying earlier, our Trials is probably the hardest meet you've ever been to, just to make this team, it's hard. I was forced to swim three fast races in the morning and in the afternoon …. We're going to go into these Games with the same approach we did at Trials and we were very successful at Trials and hopefully we will be at the Olympics.
Question: How has training gone and how has Singapore met your expectations?
Natalie Coughlin: Fortunately I competed in the World Cup here in the fall, so I got a taste of what Singapore was like, and I loved it … Colin showed me around, and brought me around to all the great restaurants and showed me around the Country Club and I knew it was going to be a great place to train. Like Mark said, the Shangri La is a beautiful hotel and this is the nicest country club I've ever been to, so that being said, that's made working hard and training well pretty easy. We're trying to get used to the humidity and the heat in preparation for Beijing and I think it's gone very, very well.
Question: Dara, to all those young kids out there, what is something you know now that you wish you'd known back when you started training?
Dara Torres: I think the biggest thing is to realize when you're up competing, it's the same thing as workout. My first Olympic Games, I sort of freaked out, because there were 17,000 people watching and I'd never experienced that. It still was the same sized pool, I still had the same suit on, I still was the same person, but I didn't realize after my first race at that point in time, that it's just like racing any other time I've raced, and that's the thing, don't let it get fear in you…
I have had times when I haven't had fun, and I think those are behind me. I'm happy right now because I'm having the time of my life.
Question: Michael, do you feel you are racing and training the fastest ever?
Michael Phelps: I felt the best I have in the water training-wise and I've definitely done my best times in the water while I've been training here. Who knows, time will tell but I'm definitely- this year's been an up and down year. It hasn't been an easy year, hasn't been a hard year ... I've had some life-changing experiences and I've been able to get through some things this year … I'm happy with where I am right now, I'm excited I'm looking forward to going to Beijing and hopefully having a good meet, we'll see. I have no idea, time will tell, but as of right now, I feel the best I ever have.
Question: Michael, What drives you?
Michael Phelps: It's my goals. That's the only thing. I have goals that I want to achieve and I'm not going to, not really going to give up my goals until they're all accomplished and I have some pretty high goals. Hopefully, if I get those goals accomplished, I can move on to the next ones.
Question: Michael, will you keep the mustache for the Olympics?
Michael Phelps: No. The mustache will be gone in about a week.
Question: Mark, talk about the U.S.-Australian rivalry and what are your thoughts generally on world swimming?
Mark Schubert: We talked to our team quite a bit that the challenges are going to come from many countries. We certainly are aware in every event what the obstacles are, and we're also aware that surprises will come in many forms. We anticipate some of our swimmers will produce some of those surprises. We just enjoy competing against the Australians because they just seem to be our natural rivals. We have a great deal of respect for them and what they're able to accomplish, particularly being a small country. When we have a chance to race them, we always just seem to relish in it. I think part of that has to do with how swimming is viewed in Australia. Which for us, we're a little bit jealous of swimming getting that much attention as it does in Australia. So, that's why we love to compete against them.
