Hayley McGregory first splashed onto the scene as a member of the 2001-02 National Junior Team. After winning a national title in the 100m back last summer in Indianapolis, she’s back training with Longhorn Aquatics for 2008. McGregory talks about her 2008 plans, and what she’s doing to reach her lofty goals, in this week’s 20 Question Tuesday with special correspondent Bob Schaller.

1 What are you doing now?

Hayley: Right now I’m just taking a semester off (from college) and focusing on trials. Might as well put it all on the line

2 Where does that leave you in terms of school?

Hayley: I’m a senior, so I have a year left of school. After this summer, I decided it would be better to focus on swimming and focus on Trials with (Longhorn Aquatics coach) Randy (Reese).

3 What’s your major?

Hayley: I’m a psychology major. After I get my bachelor’s, I hope to get my master’s in business. I want to be an event planner. I also want to open a company that designs invitations and cards.

4 Which are you focusing on for Trials – the 200 back or 100 back?

Hayley: I will do both the 100 and 200, but it seems like as I get a little older my 100 is starting to outdo the 200.

5 Of all the strokes, it seems like the 100 back and 200 back aren’t even the same stroke. Is that accurate?

Hayley: They are very different. It’s like you have to be at a different part of your taper for each of those events. Some meets you get a great 200 and decent 100, or vice versa, but very rarely see great 100 and 200.

6 Why is that?

Hayley: I don’t know why that is. It’s like the 100 and 200 back, you can’t compare it to the 100 free and 200 free. It would be more like the 100 free and 400 free in terms of comparisons. Some people can do both of those, the 100 and 400 free, but not most. In the backstroke, your legs are just dead after the 200, so it’s much different from any other event.

7 While the focus is on the incredible talent in the breaststrokes and most of the intermediate freestyles, do you think the talent in the backstroke is at that level as well?

Hayley: I think our field is underrated just because you can’t name two that are definitely going to be there in either event. I mean, it’d be hard to name the two who will win either breaststroke, but you could get two of the names in the top four, whereas in the backstroke, it’s not that way. Clearly, Natalie (Coughlin) is the one to beat in the 100. If you beat her in the 100, you win. Of course I have all the respect in the world for Natalie.

8 How odd is it to have been a teen sensation and to be going even faster now in your 20s?

Hayley: I think it is nice because I also excelled at 15 and 16 – at a young age. So it’s nice now knowing I still have the ability to go my best time. Mentally I am stronger than I was at age 15 or 16. For me at this point, it’s a lot more fun; I don’t have to take it so seriously. My world won’t come crumbling down if things don’t go my way. Even when I was 18, I felt a lot more pressure for some reason. Now, with the goals I have, it’s just an exciting time. I’m looking forward to the challenge of being at Trials. It’s good to have that feeling of exhilaration. That’ll make me do my best.

9 What can you tell us that we might not know about your hometown of Houston?

Hayley: I think we have the most restaurants per square mile, which is also why we are the fattest city in America, on and off (laughs). It’s getting a little bigger – the city, I mean! But I moved to Austin when I was 15, and that’s where I am at now.

10 Not everyone knows this, but you weren’t born here – London, England, right?

Hayley: Yes. We go back pretty often. I can’t be president of the United States (not being born in America), but that was never a dream of mine. (Laughs)  My grandparents live there, so we go back to visit family. London’s a nice city. My parents are both citizens of England. I became a U.S. citizen in 2000 so I could compete at Trials.

11 Well, then, does that mean you’ll keep training through 2012 in hopes of competing at the London Games?

Hayley: That would be pretty cool, so I could have some of the English supporting me, too!

12 Wow, looking back at results, who’d have thought you’d be here now?

Hayley: At the 2000 Olympic Trials, in the 100 and 200, I got third place in both. It’s only been recently that I feel more like a 100 backstroker. I used to be just a backstroker, period. But now my signature event is the 100. When I was younger, I didn’t really have the endurance to have a strong 200, until I built up the endurance in high school. The weight programs I’ve been a part of in college really help a lot.

13 How devastating was it to finish third in both at the 2000 Trials?

Hayley: I think I was upset immediately after it happened, but the day after, I thought about how many had done what I just did. I am a big believer in things happen for a reason. It didn’t crush me or make me stop doing it. It motivated me.

14 Do you remember those days?

Hayley: I still remember being the youngest person in the heat racing – racing B.J. Bedford, who was at a later stage her career, and now (laughs) I am the old one. It’s just amazing because I do forget how old I am, and when I look at the (sign-in) sheet I see my age and think, “Make the most of it. Time flies.”

15 What are you doing in particular to prepare this time around?

Hayley: I don’t really know if it’s anything that different. I just want to do everything I can to be the best I can be. It’s not just one single thing, but to consistently make the right choices.

16 What do you know now that you wish you’d have known when you first became an elite swimmer?

Hayley: I wish I would have known not to take it so seriously. I took it so seriously at a young age. The more fun you have, the more you succeed. It’s really strange, because now that I take it more in stride, I do so much better than I did when I was 16 or 17 and so gung ho. I’d end up disappointing myself, and there’s no worse feeling than that. So I think the big thing is keeping everything in perspective.

17 How awesome is that Longhorn crew?

Hayley: I still feel like I’m a wide-eyed kid when I see those guys on the deck, yet they are so normal and so fun. It’s a constant example of how hard work does pay off. Look at Neil Walker, who is 32 and still having a blast. That man is someone for everyone to look up to.

18 Were you in other sports besides swimming – do you participate in other activities?

Hayley: When I was a kid, I pretty much did every sport. I think I was 14 when I had to choose between tennis and swimming. I actually excelled in tennis. Actually, my new hobby is knitting, and I’m getting pretty (laughs) elite at it. I am a scrapbooker, so I went by this store one day looking for things, and I saw this store sign that said…I think it said “Yarn lady,” or “Yarn only,” and I thought, “No way they sell only yarn,” and I had to go in and look. I went in, and the lady said that they do sell only yarn. Her name was Jan. So she got me started. I bet she’d say I was a good student, because a lot of young people aren’t into knitting these days, and I really got into it and have enjoyed it ever since.

19 You set a bunch of school records in your event at the University of Southern California, something like four in a span of just a couple of months. Does that mean a lot to you?

Hayley: I had no idea about that, honestly. College swimming for me was more about the team than the times. I don’t have the underwater ability that a lot of people have, so I’m not a great short-course swimmer. I get more caught up in the relay than my own times and whatever that is compared to.

20 What is it like to go from being wide-eyed in 2000, to a bit under the radar, to back in the spotlight, signing autographs again and making the National Team and having a huge 2007?

Hayley: It’s a feeling of sort of bewilderment and confusion when I (laughs) get asked for my autograph. I point to myself, like, “Me, or someone near me?” Last summer was a huge breakout for me, more mentally than anything. It gave me more confidence in myself. That was my best long-course season in a long time. It gave me all the confidence I needed to work the hardest I ever had toward the ultimate goal of making the Olympic team. But to get asked for autographs – well, that is a great feeling to be held at that level with all of those great swimmers. It’s amazing to have come this far doing something that I love so much.