Michael Phelps, the most decorated medallist in Olympic history, has issued a warning there is even more to come at the 2012 Games in London.
Phelps, already the winner of 14 gold medals from Beijing and Athens, will set himself new targets before ending his Olympic career in London at the age of 27.
Conquering the backstroke is part of his plans but, as he bids to add to his medal haul, there are limits even for Phelps, who won eight gold medals in China - the most at any single Games.
"No breaststroke, no distance swimming, no open water - at least those guys will still be my friends," he said after arriving in London for the Olympic handover party.
"I'm excited for the next four years and today is the kick-off for the next four years."
"Olympic athletes dream of being part of the Olympics every four years."
"Right after the Olympics are over, our mindset is already focused on the next four years and what we can do to change how we prepare and try some new things and that's something I'm looking forward to now."
"I still have things that I want to do in the sport, I've never competed over here in London and I'm looking forward to really experience more of the city and be able to prepare myself to hopefully swim some fast times," he continued.
The 23-year-old, who has recently moved from Michigan back home to Baltimore, will begin his 2012 build-up with coach Bob Bowman as soon as he has settled in and spent some time with his English bulldog.
"I've no idea what I'm really going to do but I'm looking forward to trying some new events and swimming some events that I haven't really had the opportunity to swim since my schedule is always so crowded," he said.
"I've never really swum the backstroke or the 100m freestyle at a major international competition so Bob, my coach, is going to throw everything he has ever done coaching me out of the door and try something completely different just to see how it works."
"We are just trying a bunch of new things and if it's successful then great and if not then we can go back to what we were doing."
"But I'm looking forward to having some changes because the last 10 or 15 years have been the same thing the whole time."
"I've got some pretty lofty dreams in my head and those goals are going to stay there until they are accomplished," said the American icon.
But Phelps accepts he faces even tougher challenges to stay at the top of his sport after his outstanding performances in Beijing.
He reflected: "This has been one of the hardest things I've ever done, to be able to swim 17 times and make sure that I have to be ready to swim at my beat in every one of those races because I'm competing against people who are focusing just on that one race."
He readily accepts the enormity of the challenge he faces to stay at the pinnacle of swimming and fight off the challenge of rivals who are recording faster times in their specialist disciplines.
"I know that it's not going to be easy getting there and there are going to be some bumps in the road here and there - but everybody has