Campbell takes year to refresh her mind

World 100m freestyle record-holder Cate Campbell will skip the world championships as she takes a year to refresh.

Cate Campbell, with sister Bronte, will take this year to refresh her mind to extend her career out to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

World 100m freestyle record-holder Cate Campbell will skip this year’s world championships in the belief that it will enable her to extend her career to a fourth Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

Campbell, 24, has been on the Australian swimming team for nine years and said she needed a year to refresh if she were to continue beyond next year’s home Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

She said she would continue training and race in the Mare Nostrum series in Europe in June and the World Cup series later in the year. Dual world 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen and Olympic silver medallist Madeline Groves have also opted out of the world titles this year.

“I’m in no way taking a year off,’’ Campbell said, reinforcing the point with a strong win against a national-strength field in the 100m freestyle at the NSW titles last night. “I’m not retiring, I’m not thinking about retiring, I’m just not making myself available for selection.

“I’m taking a long-term approach and focusing on the 2018 Commonwealth Games and then looking forward to 2020. So this year isn’t about being the best, it’s about being my best. I’m taking a bit of a mental health year.’’

Missing the individual medals in Rio was a bitter pill and it was later revealed she also swam at the Games with a hernia. Long and lanky, Campbell has always been prone to injury and she is still dealing with a lingering neck problem.

“I’m just making sure I get my body right and my mind right because I do want to continue through to 2018, and at the moment, 2020,’’ she said.

“I’ve battled injuries pretty much my whole career and my injuries aren’t just an issue in the swimming pool. I wake up a couple of times every night because I’m sore from my neck and it carries over into day to day life.”

Yesterday, in her first competition since the Rio Olympics, Campbell showed that she was still the queen of the sprint, clocking a sharp 53.15sec to win the 100m freestyle at the NSW titles, faster than she swam in the Olympic final (53.24sec).

Cameron McEvoy had a similar Rio experience but demonstrated that he had put it behind him by flying through the 100m freestyle in Sydney.

He began with a 48.13sec clocking in the heats, the fastest time in the world this year and just 0.01sec slower than he swam for seventh place in the Olympic final. He backed up to win the final in 48.46sec, almost a second clear of the field, and was pleased with his day’s work.

“This morning I shortened up a bit and that was the reason I didn’t dip under (48 seconds) but I think the double-up swim in hard training got to me a little bit tonight,’’ he said. Fellow Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton outlasted his fellow Olympian David McKeon to win the 400m freestyle in 3:49.53.