All-time nice of open water calls time on her aggressive swimming profession

Earlier that day the swimmer, who received 10km gold at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020, admitted she had “vomited three times” forward of race as a result of “stress and pressure” she had positioned upon herself. But, as so usually in her profession, van Rouwendaal wouldn’t be crushed.

“For that to happen and to still win, shows who I am; someone who can push through and is ready to go for it.” It really embodied the combating spirit van Rouwendaal has demonstrated all through her time on the summit of her sport.

13 months on from her gorgeous gold medal-winning swim within the Seine the Olympian has although determined to formally announce the tip of her astounding journey, which additionally noticed her attain 29 main honours throughout World and European Championships.

“I was always going to have a huge break after Paris because I’ve been non-stop for 18 years, but then I really liked my work and time back in the Netherlands with my family,” says the 32-year-old, who was working as an envoy with World Aquatics at Singapore 2025.

“When they dove in and once they have been on the rostrum, you miss that feeling, however I had the possibility to see the town, calm down and never fear about fear about what I used to be consuming or restoration which I’d by no means had earlier than and that made it (retiring) a simple determination to make.

“I knew I could make it to Los Angeles 2028 (the next Olympic Games), but I wanted to move back home and I knew that training here would not be the best for me to be 100% focused on it, so that is why I chose to stop swimming.”

Her rivals might, at the very least privately, breathe a sigh of reduction after studying of van Rouwendaal’s retirement, however many have been fast to acknowledge her “inspirational” achievements.

World bronze medallist Lisa Pou said the Dutch nice demonstrated the significance of “perseverance” as an expert swimmer and thanked van Rouwendaal for the “respect” she had proven “in and out of the water” all through her profession.

British Olympian Alice Dearing hailed her a “legend, game-changer” and “GOAT”, whereas World champion Chelsea Gubecka additional endorsed these feedback by stating she was the “greatest to ever do it” and Caroline Jouisse added “Queen” to the listing of glowing tributes.

“It’s been lovely to read some of the comments, because in Singapore, people were coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh, please come back, you’re always so fair,’ and that was lovely to hear,” she tells World Aquatics.

“I used to be an envoy with Alice (Dearing) throughout Singapore she was like, ‘Sharon, you don’t know how much it meant to me that I once followed your feet and you brought me all the way through the pack, and I did my best lap ever.’

“I’ve always been a fair swimmer and I would always try to make it harder if I felt something was too slow and I’d drive out of the pack, so athletes respect that I am trying to do the work for them sometimes and it’s been really nice to see the messages.”

Like many open water greats van Rouwendaal started her profession within the pool, along with her first main continental medals coming in her homeland, at Eindhoven 2010, the place she claimed European bronze in each the 100m and 200m backstroke occasions.

She would additionally end third within the 200m backstroke on the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, China, however progressively started including longer distance disciplines to her programme.

Berlin 2014 was the primary time she tried each the pool and open water programme, profitable gold within the 10km and 4x1500m relay, in addition to silver within the 5km occasion, earlier than ending second within the 400m freestyle.

“I love the Berlin races,” she recollects. “It was my first open water race and I received it!

“I had three open water medals after which I went to the pool and did 200m butterfly, 1500m, 800m and 400m free. I bear in mind I used to be swimming Federica Pellegrini, Jazz Carlin and Mireia Belmonte and handed all of them, other than Jazz, in a giant private finest (time).

“Even if it’s just silver, that was a very special event for me as from then I knew my open water race results suggested I should continue there.”

A 4x200m World quick course (SC) gold, along with 400m silver and 800m bronze, would observe at Doha 2014 earlier than an additional European SC bronze in 2015; however from that time onwards, she realised her biggest medal-winning potential got here in marathon swimming disciplines.

Despite her sustained success on the Olympic and European stage, van Rouwendaal needed to wait till Budapest 2022 for her first World 10km title.

18 months later, she achieved Olympic qualification in fashion by finishing the 5km and 10km double at Doha 2024, in what proved to be her ultimate World Championships.

What proved to be her ultimate Olympics additionally noticed her declare victory, with a formidable 5.5-second margin from second-placed Moesha Johnson of Australia

“I think you will never have an Olympics where you swim just next to the Eiffel Tower, which is one of the most beautiful sceneries that we have ever had, so that race is special because it all fell together,” says van Rouwendaal.

“It was the whole lot I had skilled for, and I had the arrogance to go my very own manner, despite the fact that folks watching and racing have been questioning what I used to be doing.

“The unusual factor was that after I touched it felt like a simple win. I had ache, however no one was combating or bothering me as I used to be swimming utilizing my techniques and strokes, and I believed, ‘Oh, okay, this is what it is to win in Paris. Wow!’

“It was the perfect ending for me.”

With over 30 main honours throughout Olympic, World and European Championships – in arguably one of the crucial difficult aquatic disciplines – van Rouwendaal has earned the proper to make daring proclamations about her profession.

She referenced ‘GOAT’ in her considered retirement message and hopes she has left a legacy which demonstrates the significance of laborious work.

“I hope they see me as one of the greatest swimmers of all time, but not just for open water,” she tells World Aquatics.

“I’m not a Katie Ledecky and I don’t have world records anymore, but I hope that people see me as an all-rounder and someone who if she goes for it, makes it happen.”

World Aquatics’ 2025 General Congress befell throughout the Singapore World Championships this summer time and one of the crucial important bulletins involved the launch of a brand new Post-Career Compensation Fund. 

It goals to offer assist to athletes reaching the tip of their aggressive careers and help them with the transition into the following section of their lives.

“I really appreciate that World Aquatics is creating more opportunities for athletes, especially with the Athletes Compensation Fund announced in Singapore 2025,” stated van Rouwendaal.

“It shows they are listening to athletes needs and making steps to support us not only in competition, but also in the bigger picture of our careers. Having resources like this helps make the sport more sustainable for athletes at all levels.”

While her skilled swimming profession might have reached a conclusion, van Rouwendaal has no plans to finish her time within the water, insisting she must train at the very least as soon as a day to “feel healthy” however she could have extra time to pursue different ventures.

Among her foremost plans are to additional develop the Sharon van Rouwendaal Academy and develop on-line coaching, mentoring in addition to shoulder harm prevention plans.

“These are things that I really enjoy and they’re maybe my ‘dream job’ because whether it’s mentoring, coaching or giving guidance it’s something I can make a difference with and I’m not just talking about people at the top, it’s all levels,” states the two-time Olympic champion.

Van Rouwendaal continues, “This will not be the tip, however a brand new starting.

“And to all swimmers, athletes, and dreamers: remember, medals are won with your body, but true victories are won with your mind.”