Aaron Peirsol
Aaron Peirsol
Aaron Wells Peirsolis an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the men's 4×100-meter medley relay. Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events. In February 2011, Peirsol announced his retirement, saying, "I ended up doing everything I set out to do."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth23 July 1983
CityIrvine, CA
CountryUnited States of America
He has a gift, man. A physical and mental gift. To be able to do all those different strokes, obviously his brain functions differently from most people's.
My strategy was to stay ahead of Michael in the first 100m, then pull away. That's what I did.
It's relaxing to swim in front of your family and friends. You couldn't ask for a better meet as far as competition goes and the crowd.
Instead of eight days, it's going to be one day: boom, boom, boom,
I feel like a host, ... It's pretty sweet. The pool, it looks like a completely different pool. It's got some big stands, flags, banners, cameras, and who knows what all.
How often does one person get six medals at a World Championships? The way I look at it, not to downplay my accomplishments, but people break world records every year. So to win this award this year, I am completely humbled and very happy.
If you're that person, then you've done your job. And if you've (influenced) one kid out of a thousand, then you've done your job.
This has been the opportunity of a lifetime, ... I have always wanted swimming to have an ambassador to travel throughout the United States in places like Hawaii to excite swimmers, parents and the community in general about the great sports that involve water. I have dedicated my life to promoting this, and I now have that opportunity. I have been blessed and I want to share my experiences with as many swimmers as possible.
You could've put more stands out there and they would have been sold out, too. That crowd was loud. You could hear them when you swam.
I'm just elated. I hoped, but I didn't think I'd really be able to do that.