Every path to the Olympics is unique.

Part of that is sheer math. It's highly unlikely that all 10,000+ athlete who represent their countries every fourth summer are going to share tons of biographical overlap.

But Brooks Curry's story is especially interesting. He's the under-recruited, highly-doubted, mullet-haired, jorts-creating-and-sporting surprise of the USA Swimming setup this summer, a Georgia kid who found his way to LSU and then to an SEC Championship and finally to the Olympics.

What a delight this conversation was, from the story of how he dreamed of making the Olympics -- although maybe not quite this soon -- to why he bought thrift store jorts and covered them in purple and gold paint, a perfect fit for national television after shocking the world.