Teenage talent Tamsin Cook of Australia has decided to take herself out of contention for a possible spot on her nation’s 2017 World Championships roster. The 18-year-old Carine swimmer is withdrawing from April’s Australian Swimming Championships, one of the primary qualification criteria for making the squad for Budapest, deciding to go on a swimming hiatus.
“I’ve made the really tough decision to withdraw from Nationals and take a bit of a break from swimming,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I could perform to the standard required and rather than push through and hope for the best, I’ve decided to take a mini-break and come back refreshed and refocused.”
The 2016 Western Australian Sports Star nominee will be taking a 2-month break from both training and competition, giving her a chance to re-energize physically and mentally, while also focusing on her studies. At just 17 years of age in Rio, Cook was the youngest Australian Olympian and came away with a silver medal as part of the Australian women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
Cook will aim to kick-off her Commonwealth Games qualifying campaign at the Mare Nostrum series later this year.
