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U.S. OLYMPIC SWIM TRIALS

June 30, 2016

Josh Prenot

Omaha, Nebraska

THE MODERATOR: We have with us Josh Prenot. Josh, if you want to start us off, tell us how the race went down from your perspective and what it means for you to be able to call yourself an Olympian.

JOSH PRENOT: Sure. All right, so how the race went down, I pretty much could only see Kevin, and he was out very fast in the 100, and through all my nerves I was trying to stay relaxed, keep the breathing relaxed and just press kind of the last 75 of the race.

That is by far the most perfectly I've ever put it together, so I'm just going to be working on putting another good race together in Rio.

Q. Looks like you made a real move, Josh, like I said, on that 75 and particularly a great push on the last 50. Were you just trying to stay within pace or were you actually going after Kevin?
JOSH PRENOT: Sorry, what was the question there?

Q. The question was looks like you made a real move on that last 50. Were you trying to swim your own race or were you going after Kevin?
JOSH PRENOT: Both. I mean, every time I go to a meet I try to win the meet, so that's no different, but I mean, within that I've got to stay within my own strategy. I can't control how fast the other guys go; I can control how fast I go.

Q. Did you pick up the pace?
JOSH PRENOT: Yes.

Q. The American men have not always been strong in this event. Do you feel like this is the beginning of the return to days of the Brendan Hansen and does that pressure you in any way?
JOSH PRENOT: Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, we've gotten real deep pretty fast in that event. I mean, to have three guys 2:08.1 or better, you could have asked people in 2013 if they thought was going to happen, and I don't think anyone would have said yes. So it's pretty cool to see the progression. I guess we're becoming more like England, where we're pretty good at breaststroke and pretty bad at soccer.

Q. Just with the week you had scratching the 400 IM and getting third in the 100 breaststroke, and obviously putting this together in a tight field, what does it say about your performance that you put it together? The plan ended up working out.
JOSH PRENOT: Feels pretty good. If I would have gotten third again I would probably be kicking myself for scratching the 400 IM, even still I don't know if I would have been able to take down J. My coaches had confidence that this was the right move. Yuri was helping me through it, Dave was helping me through it, just the mental side as well as how to physically handle the week, and I think they did a really good job with it.

Q. Josh, what does it feel like to post the fastest time in the world this year? Are you surprised that you and Katie are the only two swimmers to have done that through more than half of this meet?
JOSH PRENOT: Well, first of all to be mentioned in the same sentence as Katie Ledecky, probably the most dominant athlete in the world in any sport right now, is an honor.

Yeah, I didn't realize that was the No. 1 time. That's pretty cool; a new achievement for me. Yeah, let's hold off on that until the results of the 200 Back tomorrow.

Q. I know we discussed this in the Mixed Zone, but now that you've had time to reflect on what this win means to you, seeing Will get third and all you guys have been through the back and forth over the past six, seven years, what are you feeling for him right now?
JOSH PRENOT: Yeah, pretty gutted for Will, man, to be a tenth off sucks. I mean, I know he's put in the work just like I have, but I mean, he is a mentally tough guy. I know he's going to come back strong from this. He's put together a pretty incredible progression the last couple years, and I have no doubt he's going to keep improving and making the World Championship Team next summer is going to be no joke.

Q. So headed into Rio, like Karen said, the top time in the world this year, but obviously very competitive, people like Kevin, the Japanese are very tough, the British very tough, does your strategy change or are you going to be the one that storms back the back end and keep 'em in your sights the front half?
JOSH PRENOT: The best races I've had are always when I don't try on my first 50, so I feel like I have to kinda stay true to that. Yeah, I don't want to get dragged into other people's race strategies. I just want to do what I do, but hopefully do it better.

Q. If I'm not mistaken your major is physics, correct?
JOSH PRENOT: Yeah.

Q. How does that affect swimming, strokewise, and how you race?
JOSH PRENOT: I've had people ask me that before. It would be cool to say that taking mechanics classes helps me think of new ideas for my stroke, but it honestly doesn't at all. Swimming is kinda like, you have to -- you just have to feel what works and experiment and kind of just see what works for you. There is definitely a scientific aspect to that, but physics, you have to know why everything happens and the intricate details of why it happens, and that's just not really the experience that I have in swimming.

Q. So you've been a professional now for a few months. Do you think this lifestyle is agreeing with you?
JOSH PRENOT: Absolutely! Yeah, I like swimming. If people are going to pay me to swim, then I will probably swim for a very long time because I enjoy this a lot!

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Josh.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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