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USA SWIMMING 2018 PHILLIPS 66 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 24, 2018

Simone Manuel

Irvine, California

THE MODERATOR: We now have with us Olympic gold medalist, world champion Simone Manuel. Obviously, this has been a big year for you, kind of wrapping up your collegiate career and moving on to the professional ranks. And from the looks of your shirt, looks like you might have some news to share.

SIMONE MANUEL: Yes, I am so excited and so thrilled to be a part of Team TYR and such a great team that excels so well in competitive swimming. And they have really supported me, and I'm really excited to be part of their team.

Q. There's been a lot of coverage about the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal. I'm curious how you think USA Swimming has handled that issue as it's become more of a -- something that's more talked about in our culture?
SIMONE MANUEL: I think USA Swimming has handled it well. But since it's such a huge topic I think we all have a lot more work to do on it, and just understanding what safe sport represents and just all being aware of what has been going on and really trying to make the situations better and making the survivors feel better about the situations that they've been a part of.

Q. Can you tell us more about the decision to sign with TYR and what went into that decision for you?
SIMONE MANUEL: A lot went into my decision. I really wanted to choose a company that was in line with some of the missions that I have as a professional swimmer in and out of the pool. And TYR really supported me throughout that. And I just know that it's the best decision for me.

Q. Is it significant to you at all that you are now suit teammates with your Stanford teammates Lia (Neal) and Katie (Ledecky)?
SIMONE MANUEL: That definitely was a driving force and just talking to them and how much they appreciate TYR and what TYR has done for them and how comfortable they feel competing in the suits.

And I was just talking to Team TYR about some of the cool equipment I've seen them walk in in practice to and how kind of jealous I was of it. So I'm really excited to kind of get that gear and progress in the pool with Team TYR.

Q. You mentioned TYR aligns with some of your missions. What are those specific missions?
SIMONE MANUEL: So within TYR we have implemented the inclusion rider, which talks about serving underrepresented communities within the business and making sure that those underrepresentative people feel included and are a part of the production process. And I think that's really important to me as I kind of stand as an advocate for change and representing and being a representative in the sport of swimming.

Q. I want to ask how it works with you and Greg (Meehan) in terms of goal setting. We always hear about swimmers and goal setting. What are the circumstances around which you set your goals with Greg? Is it the start of every year, every season? Are you running down times and places you want to get? How is that done with Greg?
SIMONE MANUEL: With Greg and my other coach, Tracy Duchac, we talk a lot about the process of getting faster. And it's not always times. I think there are a lot of aspects in my race that I need to work on to get better. And so we really focus a lot on those aspects of my swimming and the time will come.

I don't talk about times too much. They kind of make me a little nervous because I'm always very critical about my time. So a lot of it for me is focusing on the process of just getting faster.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
SIMONE MANUEL: This year. Just the beginning of the year I always have goal-setting meetings with them. I meet with them and we meet with each other whenever we feel like it's important for us to kind of sit down and refocus.

Q. When you mentioned that production process, what specifically are you referring to?
SIMONE MANUEL: Just diversity into creating suits and competition suits and gear. Just more diversity in how we are producing products for TYR.

Q. And also who is doing that work?
SIMONE MANUEL: Women, gender, race, LGBTQ, sexual orientation and the other.

Q. So it really goes beyond just really wearing the products. You want to be able to have a hand in who's making them?
SIMONE MANUEL: Correct.

Q. Wondering, too, what was your reaction to the sanction that was handed down against Ryan (Lochte) yesterday?
SIMONE MANUEL: Yeah, I mean, it's really difficult and really unfortunate that Ryan has to deal with that. But I believe in clean sport and those are the consequences that any athlete has to face if they fail the drug test. But it's very unfortunate, but I know that he will be back.

Q. One of the big stories down here this weekend is going to be the heat. While it's not going to affect you while you're in the pool, how will you deal with it just getting around the venue and dealing with the weather outside the pool?
SIMONE MANUEL: I think as an athlete you kind of just have to take control of what you can control and that's just continuing to prepare for your race the same way that you would prepare for your race if you were in air conditioning. You still have to hydrate. You still have to stretch. You still have to warm up and warm down the way you're supposed to. And we'll just try to find shade as much as we can and get out of the heat when we can.

Q. Nathan (Adrian) talked a little bit about Ryan and he kind of had the opinion that USADA is taking a very hard line with American athletes, and maybe more countries are into protecting their athletes versus governing the sport. Wondering what your take is on that.
SIMONE MANUEL: I have to agree with Nathan. I think that the U.S.A. athletes do kind of have harsher terms for when they do have incidents like these. And as an athlete who is in a drug-testing pool and is updating my whereabouts daily, it is very difficult. And we do have a lot of responsibilities. But we also are human and just me kind of going to a grocery store for an hour and forgetting to update could cause me to have a failed drug test.

And I think it's kind of difficult when us U.S. athletes feel so stressed at times about it when we know that other countries are doing this and they don't receive as harsh stipulations that we may face.

Q. Can you tell us about your pet snails?
SIMONE MANUEL: So I have two pet snails, Shaka and Zulu. And I found them on a walk and just picked them up and I've kept them ever since. I don't know, they're pretty interesting. I've learned a lot about snails and Googling why they do certain things.

They've kind of taught me to slow things down. When they come out of their shells I watch them. (Laughter) I don't know. It's weird talking about it now. But, yeah, I have two pet snails.

Q. To build off of that, it seems like you have a pretty active social media presence with -- personally, I follow you on Instagram. You'll cook on your story. You posted about your snails the other day. Do you think about that now that you are a professional swimmer, just kind of building that brand of you and kind of how you want to represent yourself?
SIMONE MANUEL: Yeah, I definitely think I had a social media presence before turning professional. But now being professional I do recognize its importance and I also want to be more engaged with my fans and people who are interested in my life. And I think it's kind of important to share the things that make me me.

And cooking is really important to me. I'm kind of quirky and nerdy. I don't really like nature, so I'm not sure why I picked up the snails that day. But I kind of want people to be more involved and really interact with them and let them have a better understanding of who I am outside of the water.

Q. You mentioned with the snails reminded you to slow down a little bit. Is that something you have to focus on, just take it slow day-by-day, big picture, don't get too hasty about things?
SIMONE MANUEL: It definitely is. I think with professional life I've had to learn that a lot even though I've only dealt with it a couple of months. But there are a lot of things that I now have to do and a lot of obligations that I have to take care of. And just kind of reminding myself to slow down and kind of have a sense of peace is really important to me. I think that's probably going to help me have a long career in the sport of swimming with as little stress as possible.

Q. What are some specific ways you try and keep that stress down on a daily or a weekly basis?
SIMONE MANUEL: A lot of that for me would have to be just swimming stays at the pool. That's really important for me. Once I'm done with practice, if I have a good practice or a bad practice I kind of leave it there. And I hang out with my friends, I cook, I now take care of my pet snails and just watch movies and shopping and all the things that make me happy and fill up my tank.

Q. Does this mean you would never eat snails?
SIMONE MANUEL: I never would eat snails even if I didn't have pet snails.

Q. Can you spell their names, and is there a reason behind the names that you picked?
SIMONE MANUEL: I didn't pick the names. My boyfriend picked the names. But the names Shaka, S-h-a-k-a, and Zulu is Z-u-l-u.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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