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American swimmer Courtney ShealyAmerican swimmer Courtney Shealy had a double gold Olympic debut. At 22-years-old, Courtney helped the U.S. win both the medley and freestyle relays. CNNSI.com caught up with Courtney to get the what's up on her experience Down Under. Before my race, I just try to relax. I warm up and believe it or not, listen to rap music. My friends made me four mixed CDs that really get my adrenaline pumping but also help me relax. I'm a fierce competitor. My coach always says, "Courtney doesn't like to lose." I really don't like to lose. I wasn't thinking about my strokes and turns at that point. I knew I had done the work for it. I don't like to over think my races. I've done that before. It doesn't work well. In the pool, I try to focus on how I've been taught and trained to swim races. I also look to see where my competition is; sometimes I breathe to look where everyone else is.
When I was in the pool for my leg of the freestyle relay, I was focusing improving our lead and putting the next swimmer in a good position for gold. I wanted to swim a good solid race for the team. When I got out of the pool, I was like, "Holy cow, we just swam so fast." I knew we would win the gold at that point. I just looked around and thought to myself, I just raced a relay with three swimming legends -- Dara Torres, Amy Van Dyken and Jenny Thompson. I think my teammates respect me as the new kid coming up in the swimming world. They say I will do great things in swimming in the next couple of years. Our team was a nice balance of the old and the new. I placed seventh in the '96 Olympic trials so I barely missed getting to go to the Atlanta Games. These past four years have been the greatest of my life. Being at the University of Georgia has made me the swimmer I am and prepared me to be an elite level athlete. I had to take a semester off school to compete in the Olympics. When I get home I will not swim for the month of October. I have been training for 17 years of my life; I want to sit back and relax. I plan to split my time between home and school. I can't miss the football games. Besides, I miss my friends and cannot wait to see them. I only have two semesters left. I'm excited about finishing my education and keeping up my training. I will now get to swim in more international meets, which will be a new realm of experiences for me. I don't know what I'll do with my medals. My mom put another medal I won in a shadow box; we may do that again. For now, they have been hanging around my neck when I know someone might want to see them. Other than that I keep them locked in a safe so I don't lose them or they don't get stolen.
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