Bronte Campbell contemplates what went wrong after underwhelming Olympic campaign

AFTER completing her final race, Bronte Campbell lay on her back in the Olympic pool alone for what felt like an eternity, contemplating what went wrong and why.

BRONTE Campbell lay on her back in the Olympic pool alone for what felt like an eternity.

Her last race completed, rivals all out of the pool, but Campbell had not moved.

Her individual medal dreams floating somewhere in the mass of water around her, Campbell trying to contemplate where it’d gone wrong and why.

Four months earlier she had swum much faster at the selection trials but the ongoing difficulties managing her troublesome shoulder injury meant she wasn’t able to train as well as she had before last year’s world titles when she won three gold medals.

She will leave Rio as an Olympic gold medallist in the 4x100m freestyle relay, but she’d come here wanting more than fourth in the 100m and seventh in the 50m freestyle.

With surgery not an option for her shoulder and long term rest the advised treatment, Campbell soaked up every last second of her time at the Olympics not knowing what the future holds.

Australia's Bronte Campbell ahead of the women's 50m freestyle final.

She will be back in the pool, she will race again next year, but nobody knows if in four years’ time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics whether Campbell will get another crack at her dreams.

“You’ve got to stop for a second and just take in the moment,” she said.

“I’m swimming in an Olympic final and that doesn’t happen very often. You can’t take it for granted, I didn’t place in that Olympic final but that’s not really, really what that was about.

“I may never get to be in an Olympic final again, I just don’t know.

“So I just took a second to soak it all in and really take advantage of the fact that I’ve got this far at least.”

Bronte Campbell explains what went wrong at Rio.

Just like her sister Cate who’d had her individual dreams crushed at the Olympics, Bronte knows there is much she must learn from this experience.

For her the main lesson is how to race when your preparation is not ideal. If her shoulder doesn’t heal itself, it may become her permanent way of life.

“I think what I’ve learnt is how to race when you’re not completely at your best,” Bronte said.

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“And how best to manage that and there is obviously one or two things I would do differently.

“No one ever does anything perfectly but I think it’s been great to learn how to race when you’re not at your best and try to make the best of that and emotionally and mentally I think that’s a really good thing to try to have to do.

“You’re not always going to be at your best and last year was a very good year for me. I was in very good condition and it was great racing like that.

“It is very tough racing when you’re not in peak condition. It’s something I haven’t had to do for a very long time but it’s something I’m going to have to continue learning how to do if I want my career to keep on going.”

Originally published as Bronte Campbell contemplates what went wrong after underwhelming Olympic campaign