Healthy Living

Since winning an Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Games, my life’s new goal is to be as healthy as possible, physically and mentally! With an athletic career filled with great success, but also tainted with multiple injuries, I’ve decided that there has to be a healthier way to train. I’m learning all about how our bodies were anatomically designed to move, working on becoming super strong in those movements, and then transferring that knowledge into all my other activities.

2013 statements
Photograph by Shane Gould

I’ve always been adamant about cross training, participating in yoga, pilates, spin classes, ballet, and others. However, mentally I’ve always viewed them as a means to get better/stronger for the water. I want to now look at any activity as a way to become a stronger human being. To excelling in each of the above examples, learning new ways to move, create healthier habits, and then take that into the water.

I am hopeful that not only will I become a stronger human being, but I will be injury free from learning how to become strong through healthy natural movements and from this become an even faster swimmer! I would love the sport of swimming to have a crazy-fast new generation while also being healthy, prosperous, and happy.

A Day in the Clinic

January 27, 2014

I keep hearing scar tissue, knots, more scar tissue and knots…. this is good news! These are fixable! What’s frustrating is to hear that most of these ailments are not from my original injury; they have developed from many years in the sport of swimming.

Success in London: Path to Rio

January 21, 2014

Recovering and re-establishing my health has become the first step on my latest 4-year journey. I have to wonder, if I put my body first, training in ways that are healthy and give my body the chance to work like it was designed to work, doesn’t it seem logical that better race performance would follow? This approach makes sense to me!

Making the World Championship Team!

July 25, 2013

1st goal: get onto the USA’s World Championship swimming team
2nd goal: to then work to defend my World Championships title!
Goal one accomplished!

My Approach to the 2013 Season

July 21, 2013

It’s been a crazy season for me. Coming off of the Olympics, taking some time off, and then getting back into training only a few months before the big World Championship Trials. During my time away from the pool this fall I had time to really think about my life and my swimming career.

First 100 Fly since the London Olympics

May 7, 2013

When I think about London and my world record swim of 55.9, I realize that my first swim back is a little off, 58.9, so 3 seconds off to be exact, and that’s a lot in swimming. But I was happy to be in the water racing, happy to be learning and feeling new things in my butterfly, and I’m excited to start making the journey back to the 55 second mark, and hopefully surpass it!!