On being at the Olympics and his chances on winning 8 gold medals:

“I’m here to take one event at a time. The first goal is to get one (medal). Once you’re an Olympic gold medalist, you’re one for life, no matter how many world records you have. How many people in the world have just one gold medal? I didn’t win one in Sydney and that’s what I’m here to do. Also, one of my big goals is to bring more attention to the sport of swimming in the U.S.”

On security:

“The country of Greece is doing an excellent job to make sure we all feel safe and at home. The more we feel safe and secure and at home, the better it is. This is a great country to be in.”

On the facility:

“You get a good vibe from the pool. It is taller and tighter, so it will be louder.”

Mark Shubert (Surfside, Calif.), Women’s Head Coach

On depth of women’s swimming team and how they prepared:

“We have identified areas for improvement for the women’s team. We have used filming and tape analysis with Dartfish video program in training camp in Palo Alto to make those improvements.”

On the makeup of the women’s 400 relay teams:

“My main concern on the 400 free relay is to find a way to win it. There are four or five real good teams that could win.”

Eddie Reese (Austin, Texas), Men’s Head Coach

On the relay teams:

“The relays will be selected by results from trials and the results from the morning preliminaries. We then put all this information together and select the four fastest. Jenny Thompson will certainly be a strong candidate for the relay.”

Assessing the overall team:

“This is the best team we have had since 1976, when they won every gold medal except one. We have great balance. They take care of one another. This is the greatest opportunity of their life at this moment.”

On the team captains:

Men’s: Tom Malchow (St. Paul, Minn.) and Lenny Krayzelburg (West Hollywood, Calif.)

Womens: Jenny Thompson (New York, N.Y.) and Lindsey Benko (Elkhart, Ind.)

Lenny Krayzelburg (West Hollywood, Calif.)

On security concerns and how have they changed since arriving:

“We have no concerns. We were told before we arrived that Athens has been doing a great job. From a security standpoint the Village has been very secure. Everything has been going very well. Speaking for all the delegation, we have been very well taken care of and feel safe. This is as good as you can get and we are very satisfied with everything so far.”

On his training during the past month:

“This year has been tough. I believe in myself and I have dug deep down that was the key at trials. I have to step up now on race day and put my hand on the wall, hopefully in first or second place. I just want to have a good swim.”

Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine)

On chances to break 50 seconds in the 100 fly:

“I don’t know how fast it will be, but it will be a lot faster in Athens than it has ever been. Many of us are dying to break 50 seconds and make strides to come as close to freestyle as we can.”

Aaron Piersol (Irvine, Calif.)

On the longstanding rivalry with Michael Phelps in 200 backstroke:

“I’ve learned more from him that anyone else in this sport. It means a lot for me to have him on the team. I know how hard he works. It’s not a matter of who wins. Our main goal is to go one and two.”

Natalie Coughlin (Concord, Calif.)

On her chances of a gold in the 100 free:

“My freestyle has been consistent all year after a summer when I was very ill. I’m feeling very strong.”