1. How much does this victory mean to you after the challenges you’ ve faced over the past two years? In the bigger picture, it might be considered a small victory compared to some of the things I’ ve achieved in my career, but personally, it means an enormous amount. The last two years have been incredibly challenging, both physically and mentally. I’ ve had periods where I genuinely wondered whether I would ever feel like myself as an athlete again. So to stand on the top step after everything I’ ve been through is something I’ m going to allow myself to celebrate.
Sport can teach you a lot about winning, but I think the harder lesson is learning how to keep showing up when you don’ t know when things are going to get better. This victory was a reminder that sometimes progress is happening even when you can’ t see it. I’ m proud of the result, but I’ m even more proud that I kept going.
2. You led from the swim and held off a strong field despite the heat, wind and tough conditions. How tough was this race physically and mentally? It was definitely a physically demanding race. I remember coming out of the water and thinking, Why am I so tired from that swim? It turned out the swim was about six minutes longer than I had anticipated, so that explained a lot! On the bike, being a smaller athlete, I get blown around quite a lot in strong wind, so that was another challenge. The heat, though, is something I actually really enjoy, so I was comfortable with that. By the time I got onto the run, I had a six-minute lead, but I was starting to cramp, and I knew I wasn’ t in a position to fully exert myself. So I changed my mindset and treated it almost like a long run to get myself to the finish line.
At that point, the goal was simply to manage the situation, stay composed and bring it home.
3. You’ ve spoken about struggling to find your form in recent years – what have been the biggest challenges you’ ve had to overcome? The biggest challenge has been my knee. I’ ve been dealing with tendonitis and Grade 4 chondromalacia, and unfortunately it hasn’ t given me the consistency I’ ve been hoping for.
The hardest part was that it was always up and down. I could have a good period of training and then suddenly have a setback, without really knowing what was working and what wasn’ t. I’ ve exhausted a lot of possible solutions and treatments, and there was never really a clear line of progress. That uncertainty eventually took a toll on me mentally and put me in some very dark places. It became a real challenge just to keep showing up every day when you weren’ t sure whether your body was going to allow you to do what you wanted.
And if it wasn’ t the injury, I seemed to have terrible luck with illness around races and training. It’ s honestly felt like a bit of a disaster of a couple of years! But those experiences have also taught me a lot about patience, perspective and resilience. I’ ve learned that sometimes you have to keep moving forward without knowing exactly where the road is going to take you.
4. Was there ever a point when you questioned whether you could get back to this level and how did you overcome that? Of course. All the time when things don’ t go to plan. When you’ re used to being one of the best in the world, and suddenly you can’ t train consistently or perform anywhere near the level you know you’ re capable of, you naturally start questioning yourself.
What has changed recently is that I’ ve put together some really good training again. The confidence is starting to come back, and I’ m beginning to feel like the athlete I know I can be.
5. You’ ve found a lot of success racing the longer-distance format. Do you still see yourself competing over the Olympic distance, or are you enjoying this new chapter of your career? Absolutely. I’ m targeting the next Olympics, so I’ ll be racing short-course again, but I think the middle- and long-distance racing can complement that really well. I’ m enjoying the longer-distance racing and I’ ve found a lot of success there, but I still have unfinished business over the shorter distance.
Q & A
I don’ t think I need to choose one or the other at this stage of my career. I think there’ s a really exciting opportunity to combine the two and use the different disciplines and racing formats to make me a better overall athlete.
Targeting a fourth Olympic Games would have seemed like a very distant thought at some points over the last couple of years, so even being able to say that confidently again is a big deal for me.
6. Looking ahead, what are the goals that still motivate you, and what are you hoping to achieve over the next couple of years? I still have a lot I want to achieve. One of my biggest goals is to finish my short-course career on better terms than it ended in Paris. Having the knee injury and not being able to perform at the level I wanted to in 2024 is something that still motivates me.
Then, in the long-course arena, I have a very clear ambition: I want to become a world champion.
Those goals give me plenty to chase, and I think that’ s one of the things I love about sport. Even after everything I’ ve achieved, I still feel like there are chapters of my career that haven’ t been written yet.
7. How much of your focus is on the 2028 Olympics? It’ s definitely something I’ m targeting. I’ m not looking too far ahead every single day, because I’ ve learned that you can’ t control everything in this sport. My focus is on getting healthy, training consistently and putting myself in the best possible position to qualify and compete in Los Angeles.
A fourth Olympics would mean an enormous amount to me, particularly after the journey I’ ve been on. So yes, LA is very much part of the plan.
8. What’ s the biggest thing you’ ve learned from your journey so far? I think the biggest thing I’ d like people to take from my story is that your toughest periods don’ t necessarily define where you’ re going. There were times over the last two years when I felt like I was just trying to survive the next setback. Now I’ m starting to feel excited about what’ s ahead again.
Winning in Cebu doesn’ t erase everything that happened, but it gives me a reminder that I’ m still capable of achieving things I care deeply about. Sometimes the biggest victory isn’ t standing on the top step. It’ s finding the strength to keep showing up until you get another chance to stand there. www. modernathlete. co. za 37