Gold Medal Mom: Debbie Phelps

Did you ever think on any of those mornings of getting up early and driving your kids to swim practice that it might not be worth it? You know, because all three children did swimming, I often ask the girls now, "Should we have done something different?" and they say, "No." Swimming can take you down many roads, and one of those roads is that of an Olympian. I think that through sports, there are a lot of characteristics that were reinforced from the home—about being competitive, having perseverance, determination and drive for setting goals and reaching those goals. We all want our kids to set goals for short- and long-term. So maybe you're not going to get to be an Olympian, but think about the goals you are going to get along the way.

But as a single mom with three kids, how did you manage to get to all those practices, all those meets? I never had a child in the same practice time. They had different practice times, all different pools and we were just going all over the place. But I relied on other moms. We all became very close to each other. They knew I was coming down from another county, and we just picked up after each other and helped each other.