Bronte and Cate Campbell reveal what happened between them after the women’s 100m final

AT 2.30am after their epic 100m freestyle joust in the pool Cate and Bronte Campbell were still at close quarters. But this was no nightclub slanging match, it was what the Campbell sisters surprise us with all the time.

AT 2.30am after their epic joust in the pool, the words were still flying back and forth between swimming’s ultimate sisterhood with Cate and Bronte Campbell at close quarters.

It wasn’t a nightclub slanging match between two football rivals after a tight call on the field or a confrontation between the incendiary David Warner and an English cricket rival in a Birmingham bar.

It was what the Campbell sisters surprise us with all the time even though we should never be surprised. Win, lose, glory or silver, they are closer than the last Borobi plush toy in the wild finding a child’s hug.

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Having spent their youth as a single phrase, the Campbell sisters, what else would you do but choose again to be roomies in the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village.

They were lolling on their beds chatting, laughing and surely dissecting the 52 seconds that have redefined their careers yet again over 100m freestyle.

Burning at being beaten? Not Cate.

“No one was going over the race. We don’t talk swimming away from the pool at all, we both came back, had a sisterly chat, family stuff, a laugh and I think we stayed up to 2.30am-ish,” Cate said.

“Look, everyone wants to win, there’s no denying.

“There’s always a tinge of disappointment that you don’t but for Bronte to achieve what she did, swim that race, swim that time, is actually really inspiring.”

Cate was a mess in the excruciating moments when her Rio Olympics dream unravelled as a gold medal favourite but she is leaving the Gold Coast as all strength, healthy perspective and upbeat vibe.

How could you not be when #CampbellNation won three individual golds and shared two more in relays to finish ahead of Canada (three) and New Zealand (two) in the pool.

Even with the 100m loss to Bronte, the Commonwealth Games have done wonders for Cate because hers was a quality 2016 Olympic bronze medal time beaten by a sister who swam as fast as it took to win Olympic gold in Rio.

Cate Campbell (left) says she’s been inspired by sister Bronte’s upset win in the 100m freestyle. Picture: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

“Bronte has had a really, really rough period with injury the last 18 months and to see her pull out something like that definitely makes you wonder what you are capable of,” Cate said.

Bronte is taking a chunk of time off to repair inflamed nerves, hip and shoulder issues that highlight how big her swim really was.

“The other huge takeaway for me has been the Gold Coast Games themselves as a huge motivation for what comes next, especially because the love that other people feel towards me has surprised me the most.

“That’s the number of people who came out and watched or stopped me in the street and said how much they enjoyed watching the swimming and everyone representing Australia.”

Having more in her life than just swimming has been a huge and calculated winner for Cate , 25, so she is defined by more than a stopwatch.

She’s studying media and communications at university, she’s going to get back on the kayak she bought for the Brisbane River and she’s planning to run the The Sunday Mail Bridge-to-Brisbane fun run on August 26 as a fish out of water.

Cate and Bronte Campbell embrace following the women's 100m freestyle final. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

“I’ll keep doing different things after thrashing my body so much in the pool because I want to push my comfort zone outside it,” Cate said.

“My running is a bit questionable but we’ll see.”

Even if she finishes at No. 25,777 in the Bridge-to-Brisbane she’ll still be winning on the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Bronte and Cate Campbell catch their breath together after competition finishes on the Gold Coast. Picture: Adam Head

Cate and Bronte won’t know Lily Schroeder, 12, and sister Ava, 11, but there are stories everywhere like this.

The swim girls begged their parents to go to the Commonwealth Games to watch their favourite Campbells swim so the family car was packed on the farm in Hamilton in country Victoria.

Four days later, they were watching the 100m final and adding even more to the reach of the Campbells’ story.

Originally published as Bronte and Cate Campbell reveal what happened between them after the women’s 100m final