Quotes

QUOTES FROM TARA

I never really considered being a professional athlete until I made the Olympic Team. It’s something I enjoy doing right now, and I’m having fun with."

I’ll continue swimming as long as I want to, but when it’s done, it’s done.

"Catalog shoots are fun. But it’s not like America’s Next Top Model. You do what the photographer tells you to do."

"I like winning, so I’m going to swim really hard every race, and that’s great for the crowd, and good for us."

"The hardest part of being a captain is choosing the wardrobe for the team."

"Once you see the flag rise up first and they play the song for you and your hand is over your heart, it means a lot."

"Everyone still calls me 'Little Tara.'”

[On her nickname, "Captain Kirk"] "I hate it, but it obviously come from my last name."

"Sometimes it’s nice to be the underdog."

[On racing Leisel Jones] "I know that she is beatable and I know that I am fast."

[On the criticism of her stroke] "While most of the time it was technically legal, I thought that I could make myself faster by making some stroke alterations that would also silence all the critics."

"I don't usually alter my race strategy because of whom I am racing against."

"The best way for me to win a race is to focus on swimming my own best race."

"I didn't start to get serious (about swimming) until I was 14. Three or four months later I won my first junior nationals, then things started going up from there on a steep curve."

"I think I'm one of the rare people who would enjoy med school, but I'm not sure if it's my true calling."

"I enjoy swimming. I enjoy being in shape. It's been such a big part of my life."

2004 OLYMPIC TRIALS

[On her 100 Breast race at 2004 Olympic Trials] "It was ugly, but I raced well."

"I never really considered being a professional athlete until I made the Olympic Team. It’s something I enjoy doing right now, and I’m having fun with."

"While I swam well in the Olympics and at (the 2004) Olympic Trials, I let excitement get the better of me and I overswam both races."

"I didn't think that I swam the best races of my life at Olympic Trials, but in the 100, it was good enough to make the team, and that was all that really mattered at that meet."

COLLEGIATE CAREER

"When I came to college, I really improved. I dropped a second or two in the 100 and five seconds in the 200."

[On Stanford] "We have really great athletes who want to be great in academics as well. You recruit people who want to be excellent in both."

"My freshman year I was so clueless. I kept winning my events at our dual meets. Then I won the 100 breast at NCAAs. I don't think I realized at the time just how big NCAAs were. I just thought, 'Cool, I won.'"

QUOTES ABOUT TARA

"She always does her best when she has a big smile on her face." - Sister, Dana

"We love it when she gets excited. She gets this big smile on the blocks-it's gorgeous." - Former teammate, Katy Blakemore

"She's nearly unbeatable in short course competition because of her power." - Former coach, Richard Quick

"Tara is a humble swimmer and person in general. It's kind of amazing-she's extremely intelligent, beautiful and an awesome athlete, but it doesn't go to her head. She's willing to take her good qualities and use them to help others." - Friend, Lacey Boutwell

"She really does lead by example. She does an awesome job in practice, being emotional when we need to be emotional and working hard when we need to work hard. She's really good about stepping it up and helping others." - Former teammate, Katy Blakemore

"Tara is an unbelievable student-athlete, and it is an unbelievable achievement for her to win the Honda-Broderick Cup." - Former coach, Richard Quick

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