People wanted to be friends with me for not the right reasons. They'd introduce me to somebody else as the Olympian or the swimmer. I didn't want to stand out. I wanted to blend in.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I wanted to be an Olympic swimmer when I was growing up.
People were actually approaching me on the street and thinking that I was an athlete. They couldn't quite place it, but a runner, or swimmer or something.
I didn't get into racing to make friends.
It really was my brother who got me involved in swimming. I wanted to be just like him and do everything he was doing.
I've made a lot of friends over the years through racing, but we weren't necessarily teammates.
I wanted to become an actor because I wanted friends.
I was a competitive swimmer in middle school and high school.
I knew there were a lot of friends out there, and I wanted to be with them.
I never got picked on, but I never had a lot of friends. When I talked to my parents about it, they said, 'They're just jealous because you're beautiful and talented.' It was probably one of the worst things they could have told me, because I became self-conscious.
I was friends with all different people and all different groups. And that led me to being friends with a few people who didn't even go to my school. Now I have the most amazing collection of friends of all ethnic backgrounds and upbringing and financial backgrounds.