Australian backstroke star Emily Seebohm is coming off a strong performance at the 2016 Australian Short Course Championships, where she swam her way to 6 gold medals. Seebohm took the time to talk with interviewers after the event, discussion her plans for her future in swimming.
When asked if she would continue swimming through the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Seebohm couldn’t give a definitive yes or no answer just yet. The Olympic medalist plans to evaluate her performances year-by-year before making that decision, so it’ll likely depend on how she feels about her swims at championship meets in the near future.
While she isn’t sure if she’ll be swimming until the next Olympics, Seebohm is planning on competing in the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships next month.
On her Rio performance and Olympic future:
“I thought well that sucks but I’ll keep going. It’s good to have Word Short Course there because it’s something I’ve been working towards. I’m now going to take every year as it comes and just see how my body is handling it and how I’m feeling mentally and physically. That is my priority before I decide I’m going to go for 2020.”
This summer in Rio, Seebohm entered the Games as the favorite in both backstroke races. Her performance at the meet left her disapponted, as she failed to medal in either event. Seebohm wasn’t thrilled with her Olympic performance in 2012 either, expressing dismay after coming up short with a silver in the 100 back behind Team USA’s Missy Franklin.
We’ll have to wait and see how things go for Seebohm at Short Course Worlds next month before she decides if she wants to make another run at that elusive Olympic gold. She’s slated to swim all 3 backstrokes, the 50 fly, 50 free, 100 IM, and possibly the 200 IM in Windsor.
