Mark Spitz quotes

Mark Spitz is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. Considered one of the greatest swimmers in history, he won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics, setting world records in each event. He has inspired generations of athletes with his remarkable achievements. Here are 33 of his quotes:

If you fail to prepare, you're prepared to fail. (Mark Spitz)
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. View quote
Mark Spitz
I just tried to keep my cool and continue with my race plan: to win. View quote
Mark Spitz
In everyday life there is always manana. There is no urgency. View quote
Mark Spitz
I swam my brains out. View quote
Mark Spitz
I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm not concerned with tomorrow, but with what goes on today. View quote
Mark Spitz
It has nothing to do with swimming. That happens to be my sport. I'm trying to see how far I can go. View quote
Mark Spitz
The only side effect of too much training is that you get into better shape. There is nothing wrong with that. View quote
Mark Spitz
Yes, I believe that the art of winning is through intimidation, and not necessarily do you have to speak about it. View quote
Mark Spitz
Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success. View quote
Mark Spitz
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. (Mark Spitz)
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. View quote
Mark Spitz
I am not qualified to talk about the diet. Simply because I am not a dietician. View quote
Mark Spitz
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. View quote
Mark Spitz
And if you have high cholesterol, you would feel the same as if you had low cholesterol because there are no side effects, no symptoms of having high cholesterol. View quote
Mark Spitz
Everyone loves to be loved. View quote
Mark Spitz
All things being equal, if we could simulate the same scenario, he has a lot more difficult task. He's elected to swim six individual events, as opposed to what I elected to do, which was four. View quote
Mark Spitz
Life is true to form; records are meant to be broken. View quote
Mark Spitz
Swimming isn't everything, winning is. View quote
Mark Spitz
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. View quote
Mark Spitz
Because a known fact is better than an unknown fact. (Mark Spitz)
The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude. View quote
Mark Spitz
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. View quote
Mark Spitz
So in my mind I own a lot of house records still. View quote
Mark Spitz
One of the most difficult things for people who have been successful in sports is adapting to the daily world where you can't get an answer from someone until 5 o'clock tomorrow. There is always an excuse. Living 40 or 50 years like that doesn't get too exciting after a while. View quote
Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz - Image
Photo: Wikimedia commons, CC BY 2.0
Occupation: American Athlete
Born: February 10, 1950
Quotes count: 33

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