Dual Olympic gold medal winner Bronte Campbell has revealed how close she came to calling time on her stellar swimming career.
Speaking to Fox Sports News’ Sam Squiers, Campbell opened up on the extent of her battle with chronic pain, and the impact on her life.
“I couldn’t even go out for dinner with my friends as I couldn’t sit up for more than thirty minutes at a time, because my back was in too much pain,” she told Fox Sports News.
“It really limits all the rest of your life.”
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Opening up on the extent of her battles, the world champion addressed the shoulder and back injuries that left the now 29 year old in chronic pain since 2015.
“By the time it got to 2017, after a year and a half of being injured, I was very close to quitting the sport and moving on,” Campbell said.
“I didn’t see a way that I could still continue to compete at my best, and if I couldn’t compete at my best I didn’t really want to be there.”
That decision would have seen her never win her second Olympic gold, as Campbell went on to triumph in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in Tokyo alongside her sister Cate.
Taking an extended break in recent years however, has proved to be a masterstroke for Campbell, with the decision already paying dividends in and outside the pool.
“I’m swimming in the least pain I’ve been in for 8 years,” she revealed.
“I had eighteen months completely out of the pool, that’s a very, very long time. There’s very few people that have taken that amount of time off.
“People kept asking me ‘Are you retired?’ and I said ‘no, I haven’t decided yet’.”
Campbell retuned to competitive swimming last year with a new coach, after ending a 21 year run with Simon Cusack, and making a change to her stroke.
“It was a really big change for me, I had the same coach from when I was seven to when I was 28,” she said.
“I went to three Olympics with him. It was daunting to do something different, and also really exciting. I wanted to come back to the sport and do new things.”
Referring to the immense training required to be one of the most elite swimmers in the world, Campbell understands better than anyone the toll of swim training.
“I do about 19,000 swim strokes a week, and I’ve been doing that since I was about 15,” she said.
“If I ever think why am I injured, I look at that stat and think it’s amazing either of my shoulders work!”
After a successful state champs, the former world champion says she is better shape than ever mentally and physically, launching her own swim equipment business, as well as co founding an active wear brand. All this, while surging towards a fourth Olympics.
“I would not be back swimming and preparing for Paris if I did not have these other things going on in my life,” she said.
“I like knowing I’ve got all these other options, and yet I choose to be in this race anyway, and I choose to put myself through all the training anyway.
“That’s really empowering, and made this prep very fresh.”
Source Agencies
