“My final comeback”
Libby Trickett doesn’t exactly remember the details of the day when her entire world came crashing down, but when it did, it came fast – way faster than any 100-metre final she’d swum during her career.
Struggling with motherhood after the birth of her first daughter, Poppy, the retired four-time Olympic gold medallist and former world champion felt that, if she could just get to the Mum’s and Bub’s class at her local gym to get those endorphins pumping through her weary body, then everything would be okay.
She was once the fastest woman on water. Now, she was barely functioning. Most days it was an effort even to shower. But that morning she was determined to do something for herself, so she buckled her “howling like a banshee” eight-month-old daughter into her car seat and took off in a blurry haze. Five minutes into the half-hour drive something deep inside Libby snapped. The girl with the trademark grin was in freefall, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Shut up! Shut up! You’re not taking this away from me!” And at that moment, for the first time in 20 years, she finally faced rock bottom.
“It’s a miracle we’re alive and
