On the heels of Spanish Olympic champion Mireia Belmonte revealing her aim to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, another longstanding racing mainstay has staked her claim on making her nation’s 2024 squad.
Mom-to-be Emily Seebohm of Australia may be due to give birth to her first child, a son, any day now, but the 31-year-old has made it known she has a goal of making her fifth Olympic team.
“It would be insane,” the 2020 Olympic Games 200m backstroke bronze medalist told The Courier Mail this week.
“I think to do it and have a baby as well, that’s the biggest lesson I could give to my child.
“You don’t ever give up on something you want, even if you think it’s not possible, anything is achievable.
“So I’m just going to give it a go.”
The Australian Olympic Trials are just 8 months away, which means Seebohm would have an uphill battle to get back to form and fed off the ever-present arsenal of talent that comprises Swimming Australia.
But Seebohm said, “I feel like I have this extra bit of strength that wasn’t there before.
“Being a mum and just seeing what my body has been capable of doing gives me an extra bit of something that no one else has.” (The Courier Mail)
Seebohm hasn’t competed since Tokyo but did partake in the national team’s training camp in February on the Gold Coast while 8 weeks pregnant.
Targeting the 200m backstroke specifically, Seebohm said, “Obviously it’s not going to be easy, I know it’s not, so as long as I’m accepting of that. I know what it takes, I’ve been there before, and it’s just going to be different.”
Teammate and reigning World Record holder Kaylee McKeown topped the women’s 200m back podium at this year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan and shows no signs of slowing down. Additionally, Jenna Forrester has been rising among the international ranks, with the Aussie placing 8th in the 2back final in Fukuoka.
This week at the World Junior Championships, Aussie Bella Grant reaped bronze, posting a time of 2:11.24 to put her hat into the ring of possible contenders at next year’s Olympic Trials.
With these results in mind, Seebohm said, “I not only want to make it [the team] but be able to swim a good time … if I’m kicking it with the best in the world, I’ll be pretty stoked.
“If I can go faster than Tokyo, or the same time as Tokyo, that would be awesome.”
Exactly the news I was hoping for! Good luck Em Seebohm! If anyone can do it it’s her – we’re forgetting she’s already been through so much and continually proved the doubters wrong. Let’s be honest on current times it’s Kaylee and daylight. That second spot is wide open.
I applaud her attitude but I doubt it. Unless she has absolutely the tightest amount of care down to making sure she is getting more than 7 hours of sleep a night, this is a longshot. Women have it tough the first year.
While the roster may look a open is there a QT she has to do? I thought AUS didn’t like taking tourists and that is all she would be at this stage of her career.
Australia (almost) always sets a qualifying standard which is faster than the FINA A cut. If she makes that standard and is in the top 2, she will qualify. If she doesn’t, then she won’t.
They don’t just determine someone is a “passenger” by looking at their personal life and circumstances.
She’s keen, I must give her that.
Her body will tell her whether her Olympic plans are achievable once she’s recovered sufficiently from giving birth to a bouncing future backstroker.
I admire her attitude and hope she makes it. I’m 4 weeks postpartum, swam Masters throughout my pregnancy, and it’s never easy getting back. Your abdominal muscles are so weak, it puts a tremendous strain on your back. I’m a different swimmer now than I was before kids, but I’ve had more than one so that’s a factor. I wish her the best.
thats why she wont be the same. I have tremendous respect for women that carry babies and then stay active. Until I had a child of my own, I didnt understand the emotional and physical stress of it.
The openings are certainly still there but, honestly, I really would prefer this just be a case of her “feeding the media on a slow day” than actually play out.
Much prefer that significantly younger swimmers step up and earn the positions
She always has the talent
Go, Em!
Giving birth and looking after a new baby is gruelling, physically and emotionally.
You might require a caesarian or suffer birth complications or get post natal depression.
The sleep deprivation is unbelievably, inexpressibly debilitating. Morning training having been up several times every night for months on end?
Recovery? I bet some fool has told her she can “nap when the baby naps” !!!
Elite swimming is gruelling and demands ruthless focus/ selfishness. A new baby doesn’t fit round your schedule. It takes everything you’ve got, unless you’re outsourcing all the care. In which case, why have a baby?
Now i really hope em makes it
I presume you’ve never had a baby?
I’ve had 4 thanks for asking. Will be cheering Em on!
Me too, and it would be fabulous if Emily achieves this. However, I am realistic, having also worked as a midwife. A spot for the 2 Back would be a good target.
Thinking about it, Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran the 400m at the World Athletics champs last month, 4 months after having a baby. Clearly not back to form yet, but she did make the team. Emily wants to make the team, she isn’t talking about how she performs if she does. I will watch with interest. I managed some pretty good academic performances weeks after both my first and second babies, but that’s not the same as physical performances.
No one is denying that it is going to be difficult, but of the very, very few people who have the level of talent necessary to succeed anyway, Emily is definitely one of them.
I’ve had 2 kids.
With one I was swimming within a few weeks and if I had been able to afford a babysitter/nanny I would have swum more often. (The baby was a great sleeper and was in a routine very quickly).
The other kid was the complete opposite and I would not have been able to train for many many months.
As anyone with Google can quickly find, there are many examples of remarkable athletic achievements by women in relatively short order having a baby. Surely she (and her family) can figure out how to balance these important goals if they have the motivation to do so. Working with a partner and/or family to do this isn’t “outsourcing” and regardless if she needs additional outside help or not many families who love and care for their children make such choices. I find the idea that in 2023 an incredibly accomplished and motivated athlete shouldn’t even consider attempting both (“in which case, why have a baby?) frankly a bit odd
“Elite swimming is gruelling and demands ruthless focus/ selfishness. A new baby doesn’t fit round your schedule.”
So Dressell should just give it up since he and his wife are having a baby? Phelps should have given it all up in 2016?
Double standards anyone? Agree it will be difficult, but it’s her life. She can try.
Dressel and Phelps were never pregnant, nor breastfed any babies. Pregnancy takes a huge physical and mental toll, which fathers do not endure, however hands-on they are after the birth.
Obviously it is her life, and Paris would be almost certainly her last shot at another Olympics. It would be fabulous if she makes it, but not surprising if she doesn’t. Good on her for being so motivated.
Ummm… Dressel is a man as well as Phelps. It is the PHYSICAL stress that will make it extremely unlikely. They dont breastfeed (that I know of). They dont carry a baby for 9 months. The Mother’s role is exhausting, no mater how much support there is.
Why did this get 27 downvotes? It is SPOT ON. Apparently, some of you don’t have kids.