90 Quotes by Mark Spitz

He gave me an opportunity to swim against the best swimmer of his day in the lane next to me, ... Don Schollander. He said, 'Keep up with him,' which I did. Then he taught me how to beat him, which I did. He was a great teacher. He knew what he was doing, and he instilled a tremendous amount of confidence in those around him.

Goggles were not allowed. A cap was allowed, but I chose not to wear one. I grew the mustache because a coach in college said I couldn't grow one.

To be recognized as great is the culmination of a career, not a specific event. So we will have to wait and see, for Ian Thorpe.

Did I take it all in on the awards stand? The only time I would have done that was my last event, because I was always thinking about the next one.

The officials I was with, I don't know if they were unaware, but they didn't say anything to me. The whole thing turned into what did I see and what did I know.

This is a way to get the museum back on its feet.

It really changed how we do things in sports. Certainly, nothing happened to preplan or expect what was going to happen that day, as opposed to today, when extreme logistics go into planning.

Their destiny and where they want to be in life is not going to be a matter of chance ... it's really the choices they make, and they have to be committed to those choices.

In my case, when my lifestyle was pretty good - I ate foods low in cholesterol and fat and exercised three or four times a week.