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One of Australia’s most celebrated swimmers has announced her retirement from the sport after failing to qualify for this year’s Olympics in Paris.<\/p>\n
Cate Campbell announced that it was \u201ctime to officially say goodbye to the dream I have had since I was 9 years old,\u201d in a social media post on Wednesday, a week after bowing out of the Australian Olympic Trials in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
Campbell missed out on what would have been her fifth Games team when she fell short of qualification for the 100m and 50m freestyle events.<\/p>\n
A veteran of four Olympics, she has won eight Olympic medals, broken seven world records and is one of the most recognisable faces in Australian sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there are many conflicting emotions, especially because it did not end exactly how I had hoped, I am still able to look back without regret,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave the pursuit of a 5th Olympics everything I had, and therefore, even in failure, there is a small, indelible kernel of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old – who first made waves as a teenager competing at the Beijing Games – has won 37 major international medals, 23 of them gold.<\/p>\n
Credited as one of the best relay swimmers of all time, most of Campbell\u2019s medals have been won in team events – including gold medals for the 4x100m free relay in the last three Olympics, all achieved in world-record times.<\/p>\n
She has also been praised as a role model and mentor for her peers, including her younger sister Bronte who she has swum alongside in numerous international competitions.<\/p>\n
The pair have trained together since they were children, and both famously fought through viral fatigue after suffering from glandular fever to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were 7 and 9 years old, we sat in the back of the car planning on what we\u2019d do if we ever went to an Olympic Games together,\u201d the younger Campbell wrote in a tribute to her sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle did we imagine that we\u2019d go to three Olympics, two Commonwealth Games and three World Championships together. Sometimes reality is even better than how it was imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Campbell finished her final swim in front of a sold-out crowd in Brisbane last week, her teammates immediately entered her lane to embrace her in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the end, and it’s a perfect way to exit the pool,” she said through tears.<\/p>\n
Tributes have continued to flood in from some of the nation\u2019s most recognisable athletes and powerful sporting bodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cCate has really set up this for a lot of us women,” the reigning freestyle world champion Mollie O’Callaghan said.<\/p>\n
“She set the standards, and she’s one of the most inspirational women, in and out of the water.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n