Holly Barratt on 6-Month Swim Trip, PB at Age 34, and Quitting Swim for 5 Years

We sat down with Holly Barratt (recorded January 27), the Aussie worlds medalist who (at the time) hadn’t been home to Perth in 6 months. When she left Australia in September for ISL season 3, she stayed abroad for the world cup circuit, ISL play-offs, SC world champs, and even Christmas in Sweden. She then returned to Australia, but with strict lockdown codes in Perth, stayed in Melbourne where she trained with Craig Jackson and his squad at Melbourne Vicentre Club.

However, Holly’s backstory is perhaps more interesting then her present 6+ month time on the road. She swam competitively as an age-grouper, but not knowing how she could make the leap to international competition, quit from age 18-23. Once she started coaching swimming at age 23 (2014), she got the itch to compete again and had a full revival of her career. She went on to win 3 medals at the 2015 World University Games and medal at the successive LCM world championships, SCM world championships, and Commonwealth Games. She’s still going PBs now at age 34 and plans to retire at the end of 2022.