On life in quarantine, King said, “It has been interesting. We are back to normal schedule now, so it’s all good.”
She is looking forward to competing in the second season of the ISL for the Cali Condors once again, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary. “I am excited to get out of Indiana for a little bit,” she said with a sweet laugh. “I am definitely excited to see all of my friends and get some good racing in too.”
“It’s awesome having Jason Lezak as our team’s General Manager,” she exclaimed. “I remember he was one of my heroes growing up. It’s really cool, and it’s great to have relationships with your heroes in this sport. If Jason wasn’t your hero growing up, then you weren’t paying attention to swimming,” she said with a sweet laugh.
She complimented her teams captains: Olivia Smoliga and Caeleb Dressel. “It’s fun. It’s kind of weird seeing them as captains since we are all around the same age and we all came up on the national team together. It has been pretty cool to see them evolve from rookies at the Rio Olympic Games to where they are today,” she said.
King acknowledged that there is a silver lining in this pandemic, and it has reshaped her mindset for the Olympics. “I am more grateful for the things that I have these days,” she said.
Particularly impressive about King was that she had a winning streak in last year’s ISL meeting, and she earned the “Undefeated Swimmer” prize as a result. “That felt good. Obviously, I never go into a meet planning to lose. My goal is to always win my races. It was a good surprise last year,” she said.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she responded, “Go to swim practice, come home and play with my cat.”
When asked about what commonalities she sees among champions, she remarked, “We hate to lose more than we like to win. That’s what it comes down to. Also, dealing with pressure is a big part of it.”
King defined the word success as “any time she meets her expectations.” “Winning does not always quantify success for me at this point, but swimming to my expectations at a meet definitely does,” she said.
To learn more about Olympic gold medalist and world champion swimmer Lilly King, follow her on Twitter.
For more information on the Cali Condors, follow them on Instagram and on Twitter.
