Q1:  Do you find it hard going from your regattas to qualifying for the Olympics and filling out all of the necessary forms, trying to balance everything?
Meg Gaillard: I think it is, but I’ve been doing this for a long time, so it’s not that bad. Then I have the luxury of working for my mom’s company, so I pretty much get as much time off as I need, which is a lot, so I’m in a lucky situation in that respect.

Q2: After the Olympics what do you plan on doing? Are you going to settle down?
Meg Gaillard: I’m not really sure. I’ve postponed it 10 years since college, so another six months and I’ll think about it.

Q3: What is your mindset going into Athens? What are you concentrating on?
Meg Gaillard: I’m not concentrating on necessarily one thing. It’s going to be a really hard place to go sailing, because the wind goes all over the place, and things are changing more than they do normally. So I think Athens is going to be about being happy about where you’re staying and getting into a good routine and sticking by it. I think a lot of stuff on land can reflect on your performance on the water. It was so blatantly clear at the prelims, and it was a good lesson to learn from some of my competitors who melted down because they didn’t like who they were rooming with or where they were staying. Things you might think are kinda silly, but they are quite important.

Q4: Is racing in the water and wind in the Mediterranean different from racing in South Florida?
Meg Gaillard: Yeah, I think the biggest difference is that there isn’t any current, and in Ft. Lauderdale there is. Basically the current is just like a moving playing field, so our boundaries aren’t moving as much [in the Mediterranean] as they might otherwise be.

Q5: Are you going to have to change your race plan and use some sort of different technique to deal with the current?
Meg Gaillard: Without current one thing is taken out of the equation, it’s one less thing you have to worry about, which is kind of nice.

Q6: Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Meg Gaillard: I think I end up eating the same things more often. If I had a good day before I wear the same bikini top. I kind of find a good routine that I like before the regatta so that I feel comfortable with how I’m passing my time and I get down to my boat at the right time, trying not to freak out if something happens and I’m slower.

Q7: Do you feel like you have an advantage over others that may not have had that opportunity?
Meg Gaillard: No, because all the girls I race against go to most of the same races. So it’s pretty equal. And Athens is going to be such a tricky place that luck will definitely play a part. And keeping your head together is a huge part of it. My class is really competitive. Just off the top of my head there are eight girls who could medal.

Q8: Have you developed friendships with those girls? Do you socialize with them at races?
Meg Gaillard: Because we sail by ourselves, you don’t have time to. I train with three girls who are going to the Olympics, a kiwi girl [from New Zealand], an Australian girl and a Czech girl. All three of them could medal as well. We’re all basically top 10 in the world, so you have to be friends.

Q9: Out of all the places you’ve been to, which is your favorite?
Meg Gaillard: That’s a tough one. Perth, Australia is a great place to sail. It is windy, but hot on the water, which is really nice.

Q10: What has been your most memorable sailing moment?
Meg Gaillard: This year’s World Championships was great. And winning the Trials was great. I have this great imagination of what it’s going to be like and all these things I would do and say, then when it comes down to it I never do those things. I thought [when I won] I’d throw my fists up in the air and end up capsizing, but I just crossed the finish line and the horns were blowing, and I just sat there. My husband said, ‘Wasn’t that moment everything you thought it would be?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know.’