As Australian Olympic hero Emma McKeon prepares to take to the pool in Birmingham, her longtime coach, Michael Bohl, has revealed just how close the 28-year-old came to retiring from swimming after dominating the field at last year’s summer Olympics.
According to Bohl, after winning four gold and three bronze medals in Tokyo to become Australia’s most-decorated Olympian, McKeon was genuinely unsure whether she wanted to commit to another four-year Olympic cycle to defend her titles in Paris.
After taking a three-month break over the Australian summer to weigh up her future, McKeon spoke to family and close friends about her options – retire at the dizziest of highs or forge ahead in her pursuit of sporting excellence.
“She had three months out of the water, we just didn’t know what she was going to do. She was either going to swim or not going to swim, she wasn’t sure herself,” Bohl said.
