Mark Spitz began swimming at the age of two and at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany he earned seven gold medals making world records in each event. This record of seven golds in one Olympic games would stand for an astonishing 36 years! It wasn't until this summer at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing when American swimmer Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals to break Spitz's long standing record. Not defeated at all today Mark Spitz can be found on the motivational speaker circuit, and as an outspoken athlete he has acquired many memorable and amusing quotes.
In honour of his long standing record coming to an end, here are 15 of my most favourite Mark Spitz quotes:
-01- ?I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm not concerned with tomorrow, but with what goes on today.?
-02- ?I'm at the depot, and I'm not going anywhere. That's better to deal with than having to deal with the unknown. And the unknown is they don't want to fail. They don't want to pay the price unless there's a guarantee they're going to get there.?
-03- ?Life is true to form; records are meant to be broken.?
-04- ?Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success.?
-05- ?When I went to the Olympics, I had every intention of shaving the moustache off, but I realized I was getting so many comments about it. and everybody was talking about it. that I decided to keep it.?
-06- ?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.?
-07- ?Everyone loves to be loved.?
-08- ?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.?
-09- ?Goggles were not allowed. A cap was allowed, but I chose not to wear one. I grew the moustache because a coach in college said I couldn't grow one.?
-10- ?By making a comeback, I'm changing the attitude of people toward me. If I'd known that people would react so enthusiastically, I'd have done it years ago.?
-11- ?Yes, I believe that the art of winning is through intimidation, and not necessarily do you have to speak about it.?
-12- ?If you fail to prepare, you're prepared to fail.?
-13- ?Swimming isn't everything, winning is.?
-14- ?I always wanted to be a dentist from the time I was in high school, and I was accepted to dental school in the spring of 1972. I was planning to go, but after the Olympics there were other opportunities.?
-15- ?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.?
