With Berlin having hosted their 19th FINA Swimming World Cup, we will remember some of the standout performances – as well as their words while speaking their mind.

Here’s a collection of some of the best things said in the swimming Mixed Zone from Berlin.

Chad Le Clos (RSA) -- aka "Chad Le Clos 2.0, Here we go!"

Entering the Mixed Zone following the 200m breaststroke final, Le Clos brought some heat. A bundle of raw emotion that belied the moment for FINA World Championships, Olympic and Commonwealth Games champ - as well as being the winningest FINA Swimming World Cup male athlete of all time (Friday's win being his 147th in series history). That is, if you didn't know the backstory of his past two years. 

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"There we go! Yeah, I told you I was coming! I told you I was coming. Chad Le Clos, 2.O. Here we go! I’m absolutely over the moon; I couldn’t have asked for a better start. It was very important for me to get the win tonight. The time wasn’t important; I couldn’t really care about the time. I just wanted to win, bad. I’ve taken a lot of losses lately and I’m done with that now. It’s a slow climb back to the top. It’s still baby steps; I’ve got a lot that I can still improve.  This was a great swim but the focus is the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka next year."

 Chad, how deep did you have to dig to get back?

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"You know the place I come from. It was a dark place I was in a year ago. I didn’t want to swim a year ago. Now, I’m back to where I need to be. I’m a killer again. For me, it’s about racing the best guys in the world. Competing, you know? No one knows what’s going to happen. I want to be in the fight; I want to be in the race and see what happens. My dad is probably crying back home right now, watching tonight. This is a big moment for us; this is a big moment for me: my first win of 2022, you know? There have been too many losses. That ended tonight."

Saturday night, Le Clos was back at it, winning the 200m Butterfly and throwing out memorable quotes. None more so than this gem: 

"The lion is back. Just remember that."

Siobhan Haughey (HKG)

On her return to international swimming after a 10-month break. Haughey made the most of her competitive return, winning the 400m freestyle in 3:56.52.

Image Source: Oliver Hardt/Getty Images
"It’s great, dropping a 3:56. I wasn’t expecting that. But I’ve been training really hard and I’m really happy to know this is where I am at right now. This definitely exceeds where I expected to be. I wanted to see where I’m at, and looking at the results right now, I think I’m in a really good spot."

 

Florian Wellbrock (GER)

Image Source: Oliver Hardt/Getty Images

Saturday evening at the Schwimm- und Sprung-halle in the German capital was rocking. First, the diving competition was packed. Then, the swimming finals took place before a sell-out crowd with fans cheering on one Germany's already all-time swimming greats - Florian Wellbrock.

Coming off a bout with COVID and an uneven performance in the 400m freestyle the evening before, Wellbrock showed he's back on the path to his world record-breaking form in the 1500m freestyle final. To the delight of the home crowd, he won in 14:25.41, starting a bit conservatively and then turning up the pace during the back third of the race to outlast friend and training mate Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine, 14:25.41 to 14:26.69.

"Yeah, that was amazing. It's incredibly cool to have this many fans at the pool here in Berlin, we haven't had that for a long time. Even if this isn’t the sporting highlight of the year for me, it's definitely the emotional highlight. It's just amazing here at home. I'm not a Berliner, but I still say it’s my home. It's just so much fun to swim here."

 

Dylan Carter (TTO)

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One of the big winners from Berlin was Trinidad and Tobago's Dylan Carter. After narrowly missing out on three medals by less than a tenth-of-a-second, combined, at major competitions this summer (fourth at the FINA World Championships, fourth twice at the Commonwealth Games), one could tell Carter was a man on a mission. And he delivered, taking three 50m events in an impressive fashion. 

"The goal was to come here and win the fifties so to do that I’m pretty happy," said the 26-year-old. He added: 

"I wrote a goal down on my board in my room after having a tough summer. I missed out on three major medals. I was fourth at long course worlds. I finished fourth twice at the Commonwealth. I came out of that with a lot of fire. I wrote it down. I knew I wanted to come and be really, really good here. I did what I wanted to do."

Ruta Meilutyte - Lithuania

Meilutyte did this on Sunday night in Berlin, putting a scare into Alia Atkinson's 50m Breaststroke world record. 

Here's how the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist's interactions with the media went: 

Were you targeting the WR? “I am just trying to swim for swimming.”

Delighted with time? “Oh, yeah. Absolutely.”

You had some time away from the sport. How special does it make times like tonight?

“I’m just super grateful to be able to do it, to enjoy swimming fast. Swimming is great, but swimming fast, it's something really special and I don’t take it for granted. I’m really enjoying the experience.”

One last question, Ruta: What's bringing you the most joy with your swimming now? 

“I’d say the feeling of being in the water. And feeling strong. And just the whole experience. You know, having great teammates around; having fun with the people I’m with. And, you know, just the swimming itself. You know, no pressure, just for the sake of swimming."

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