My name is Carson Foster.
I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States.
I'm 16 years old and I practice swimming.
My dream is to represent the United States
at the Olympic Games.
(CARSON IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S FASTEST YOUNG SWIMMERS)
(HEROES OF THE FUTURE)
(CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES)
Carson began swimming when he was 4 years old.
And he really followed in the footsteps of...
his sister Hannah and his brother Jake.
Carson broke one of Michael Phelps'
butterfly records when he was 10 years old.
I was in 100 Butterfly.
Michael Phelps held the national age group record
for 10 and under, and I just looked at the times...
before the season even started,
and everyone looked up to Michael Phelps.
Just seeing his name next to a record,
I don't know, actually,
I thought, "I wanna try and break that record."
Just because it's Michael Phelps.
It was a great moment. I remember...
going back to the hotel and calling my grandparents
to tell them I did it and...
I celebrated with my parents, my siblings and my team-mates,
and it was all around a really cool moment.
Michael Phelps even.... wrote, "Congrats, Carson!"
and held it on a sign, held it up and took a picture
and sent it to Carson.
Of course that he loves Michael Phelps,
and always looked up to him, so that was kinda like...
his first... "Wow, this is huge". So...
Every kid in the United States who swims,
their dream is always to get to the Olympics
for the United States.
Obviously, with Michael Phelps, he changed the sport.
Made it a lot more popular and also a lot faster -
and that's awesome.
For one person to be able to change a small sport
like swimming in the way he did.
Ryan Murphy and Michael Phelps
are definitely my two biggest idols in swimming.
There's a lot of competition between me and Carson.
Especially in the events where we overlap.
He has started to become more specialised with backstroke...
Carson Foster!
..but he also swims a lot of IM, and I swim a lot of IM.
Jacob Foster!
So, especially when we compete in medley events,
it can get pretty competitive,
because we're good at different parts of the event.
Like, I'm a breaststroker, he's a backstroker.
So it kinda goes back and forth during the race.
The winner's in the lane number 4, Carson Foster!
So, yeah, we kind of tease each other a little bit -
but it's fun whenever we get to race each other.
They've been with the programme for about 3 years.
They've definitely helped elevate our programme
to new heights, higher than we've ever been before.
One: because they work really hard.
And they lead by example.
Then, two: they're also very positive with their team-mates,
and that creates a very positive environment.
Three: They wanna swim. They wanna be here.
And that energy, from all three of them,
rubs off on the entire team.
I'm super competitive,
I think that really helps me with swimming,
because, for me, it's all about who can get on the wall first.
It's all about times.
I've always wanted to be first in everything,
like, I'm super competitive, I hate losing.
I know it's a cliché thing to say
but I hate losing more than I like to win.
When I lose, I always have to remember
that there's more to life than swimming.
My dream has always been to go to the Olympics,
to compete for the United States at the largest stage.
And I don't think that will ever change.
I think that will always be my dream,
and if I accomplish that, then...
it's the next step. What's the next step after that?
To see if I can win a medal for the United States.
But I don't wanna go from zero to a hundred,
and say, "I just wanna break a world record".
Maybe if I make the team, then I can win a medal,
and maybe if I win a medal, maybe I can get a record -
but my dream has always been to make it to
the Olympic team for the United States.
(HIS TIME IS NOW)