He was always positive. That's what I'll take away from this year with him. He was always smiling, always supportive and always positive.

I really didn't know what to think at first. Then it hit me that I won when I went back to grab my stuff and saw several Louisiana swimmers. I am just happy to bring back a title to the state, especially for what everyone has gone through the past year.

I knew he was sensitive so I was particular when I criticized. I made certain to offer the positive afterwards.

These are all baby steps we're going through and they're all positive.

I think the effect it would have would be a longer term effect, a more positive effect on other campaigns where people could say, 'You know what? They did it in New York, why can't we do it in Nebraska?' or 'Why can't we do it in California? Or Texas?'

Everybody counted us out. That may hold true (today), but we had some positive swims.