There's way more pressure cooking for cooks than rowing at the Olympics.

In rowing, you're always striving for that perfect stroke, that repetition, each one being as good as the last. Same thing with cooking. You can't say, 'Oh, I don't feel well, so I'm going to put out a crappy plate.'

I borrowed a lot of money from my parents in the years leading up to the 2000 Olympics, and I worked odd jobs.

I think I have experience in rowing, and that has given me some ability to go about racing. I'm lucky genetically. I have a good VO2 max - I can hold a lot of air in my lungs - and that definitely helps.

I saw rowing in the Olympics and I said, 'I want to do that. That's my sport,' ... I had always been a swimmer, but when I saw rowing, I said, 'That's it.'

I'm not disappointed with bronze. It's always good to come away with a medal.