A biography for Mark Spitzhasn’t been written yet.
“I wasn't able to lower my cholesterol so they put me on a statin drug. It is called lipitor. I was able to lower my level in about 30 days from above 300 to below 200.”
“I am not qualified to talk about the diet. Simply because I am not a dietician.”
“Life is true to form; records are meant to be broken.”
“When I went to the Olympics, I had every intention of shaving the mustache off, but I realized I was getting so many comments about it - and everybody was talking about it - that I decided to keep it.”
“Because a known fact is better than an unknown fact.”
“So in my mind I own a lot of house records still.”
“The memories of the Munich games for me are of triumph and tragedy.”
“Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success.”
“In my day, at 12 years old, which was 38 years ago, we worked out in summer months for two and a half hours. Today someone in that age group might work out for four hours, two hours in the morning and two at night.”
“The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude.”
“I got beat real hard and heavy in the Olympic Games in 1968 by a guy who swam an incredible race one time in his whole life, but he did it right at the right time. I'd like to be that guy now. Maybe that's what I'm going to have to pull out of my hat to make the Olympic team.”
“If he wins seven golds and ties what I did, then it would be like I was the first man on the moon and he became the second. If he wins more than seven, then he becomes the first man on Mars. We'd both be unique.”
“I just tried to keep my cool and continue with my race plan: to win.”