Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O'Callaghan and Zac Stubblety-Cook on life and swimming post-Olympics
Swimming careers don't last that long. Two Olympics is very good, three is exceptional.
The class of 2021 from the Tokyo Games are now some of Australia's all-time greats: Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O'Callaghan, Zac Stubblety-Cook.
Coming out of Paris, the quartet and their contemporaries are older and somewhat wiser.
Some, like Titmus, are taking a year off, while those swimming on are working out what it is exactly they want from the sport.
The instinctive, youthful and very fast swimmers of Tokyo have grown up in front of our eyes and even though they're only in their early to mid-20s, they've taken on some of the baggage that comes with age: doubts and questions creep in.
Stubblety-Cook won gold in the men's 200m breaststroke in Tokyo, he won a World Championship and set a world record before following it up with silver in Paris.
"The last eight years have very much been [as a] younger athlete, really hungry and really one after the other," Stubblety-Cook said.
"Last year I had a lot of time off, and a lot of time to reflect and see where I was at, and make sure I really wanted to commit to the next four years.
"The way Mel (Marshall, his coach) put it to me the other day, it was like you go from being capable but mentally not knowing how you did it, and then you swap over at some point and all of a sudden you realise, 'Oh, shit, how do I do this?'" he said.
Stubblety-Cook has another chance at a World Championship in Singapore next month after winning the 200m breaststroke at the Australian Selection Trials in Adelaide.
"Mel and I both believe my best time is still in me, so I'm still chasing that, and I think that's the goal over the next three years, and just to get better and better each year."
He said he was excited at the prospect of swimming at the World Championships.
"Everyone's keeping their cards close to their chests, and I know a lot of people have a lot of time off and down time," Stubblety-Cook said.
"I actually think it will come down to a race, I don't think it will be all that fast," he said.
Like so many of the Paris veterans, Stubblety-Cook said he'd had a sharp comedown after the Games.
"I mean the 'Olympic Blues' is always like something to be mindful of, I think people underestimate, especially first time, what it is.
Paralympic veteran Rohan Crothers said he still suffers from the post-Paralympic comedown despite competing at the top level for over a decade.
"You spend your entire life training and preparing for this one competition and then it's over in thirty seconds, or over in a minute," Crothers said.
"And you get back home and everyone's happy to see you and they all support you, but then two weeks later, life goes on and that can be really difficult to cope with as an athlete.
"But I think one of the great things about sport is that it's not just about the competition, it is also the community," Crothers said.
Mollie O'Callaghan has five Olympic gold medals at just 21. But for most of those years she's been head down, swimming up and down a pool — now she's lifting her head, but it hasn't been easy.
O'Callaghan said she'd been to a dark place this year but had learnt so much about herself.
She wrapped up the women's 100m freestyle final at the Australian Selection Trials to book another spot for the World Championships in Singapore next month after winning the 200m freestyle earlier in the week.
She won the 100m freestyle World Championship in 2022 and 2023.
Her time of 52.87 seconds was her fastest time of the year, but she said she wasn't concerned with times.
"Dean (Boxall, her coach) and I've spoken and it's just about racing and enjoying it," O'Callaghan said.
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O'Callaghan dislocated her kneecap in January, which meant she was on a modified program for the first part of the year.
She has a hyper-mobility which makes her susceptible to dislocations.
"You can't really predict injury. You can't predict sickness. You can't predict any of that. You can try and prevent it all you want, but sometimes those things just happen," she said.
"And look, there's a lot of tears, but I think in the long run, I've learned so much about myself and I wouldn't change a thing.
"Moments like this make it even more special.
"You have to step into that dark place to get the best out of yourself.
"That's what sports is about. It's putting yourself in that hole to see how mentally strong you are, and I've definitely done that this season.
"I think this year, originally the plan was just to have fun with it, and I think soak in and take everything that we normally don't get to do while we're so focused in on an Olympic cycle.
Titmus talks a lot about wanting to have fun and explained what that meant to her.
"Obviously it's like the friendships, I think getting to travel, getting, getting to do what my dreams are," she said.
"Getting the opportunity to go around the world, to see new things, trying my hardest.
"But I think fun at the end of the day is hopping in the pool knowing that I gave it my all and got the best out of myself."
Sam Short is still just 21, but already he's an Olympic veteran and a former World Champion in the 400m freestyle.
On Friday, he added the 1,500m freestyle title to the races he's previously won at these trials: the 400m and 800m.
For Short, fun is racing and living on the edge of success and failure.
"It's a very brutal sport — one thing wrong and everyone will see it," he said.
"So much training comes down to fine margins and it is hard, but it's why I love the sport — you know you stuff up one bit and you're going to pay the price," Short said.
Benjamin Goedemans was second, just half a second behind Short and will make his first national team at the World Championships.
In other results, Ella Ramsay won her second race of the trials and booked another ticket for Singapore by winning the women's 200m breaststroke final after previously winning the 200m individual medley and coming second in the 100m breaststroke.
Swimming Australia has named a team of 25 for the World Para Swimming Championships in September and also in Singapore.
It's led by some of the biggest names in the sport including Paris flag-bearer, Brendan Hall, Alexa Leary, Benjamin Hance, Tim Hodge and Crothers.
Crothers said he was still motivated to continue swimming for the greater good as well as personal success.
"Why I swim, why I still compete is for that little two minute golden window after a race where I get a platform and an opportunity to inspire young kids with a disability to get involved with the community, get involved with sport," he said.
"I didn't think I was going to be anyone or achieve anything in my life until I saw another swimmer race for about two-and-a-half minutes at the Beijing Paralympics.
"And that has literally changed my entire life — it's given me so many incredible opportunities.
"So, although it's a small moment for me as an athlete, I place so much value and absolutely treasure the impact that my sporting achievements and my sporting ability can have on Australia and the world-wide community," Crothers said.
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