Don’t talk to three-time Olympian Belinda Hocking about the need to concentrate on her goals – it almost brought her undone.

So focused was the swimmer from Wangaratta on winning an international gold medal, she had it on a sign in her bedroom for years.

After making two Olympic teams and a couple of silvers at world championships, in 2014 it all came to pass.

The 200m backstroke specialist had the world at her feet, winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Pan Pacifics on the Gold Coast.

Just months later, her world crashed around her.

“It was probably a bit of a breakdown,” she says now.

“I had a bit of a midlife crisis, I suppose, at 24, because I was like, well, ‘what do I do next?'”

‘No one ever talks about when you achieve those goals’

Hocking took a break from the pool and set about re-establishing a life and identity beyond swimming. Photo: AAP

Hocking says she fell into a trap that snares many – believing that achieving her ultimate goal would deliver a dazzling new life.

“I thought that life would be completely different when I got home,” she said.

“I thought the sponsors would come, that I’d get invited to cool events – not that that’s what you train for but it’s a nice little bonus.”

But nothing had changed.

“I was driving the same car, living in the same house, swimming in the same pool, seeing the same people. I was like, I’ve done all that and the only thing I have is the medal,” Hocking said.

“You go to motivational talks, you hear [them] talking about the first thing you should do is go home and write your goals, and have short-term and long-term goals.

“But no one ever talks about when you achieve those goals … then what?”

Along with her midlife crisis came a crisis of identity.

“When I came home I was [just] Belinda Hocking the swimmer … and I [thought] well, I’m so much more than that,” she said.

“I’ve got a fiancé, I’m a daughter, I’m studying primary school teaching at uni, and I don’t want to be seen as just Belinda Hocking the swimmer, because you take the swimming away, and then what’s left?”

‘I was just a mess’: A run of bad luck leads to a break

Then came a now famous, extraordinary run of bad luck.

Within a few weeks, she dislocated her knee getting out of bed, had second-degree burns to her finger in an accident with a candle, and wrote off her car.

“At that point I was just a mess,” Hocking said.

Despite warnings from family and friends, Hocking chose a path not recommended for an elite athlete – she took a break from the pool that ended up being six months long.

“I realised she needed to step away and maybe get some perspective.”
Belinda Hocking's coach Rohan Taylor

Her coach Rohan Taylor was in tears when she told him, at one point, that she had retired for good but he accepted her decision.

“I realised she needed to step away and maybe get some perspective,” he said.

Hocking set about re-establishing a life and identity beyond swimming.

It was then she became engaged to her partner Max, resumed her studies and even had shoulder surgery.

Then she realised she was not done.

“I knew deep down inside me that if I didn’t at least try for a third games I would regret it,” she said.

So months of work later, she approached the 200m final at the Olympic trials in Adelaide with fresh perspective.

“My very last thought was Max will still love me, my parents will still be there, Ro will still coach me, my dog Milo will still love me,” she said.

“Everything will remain the same no matter what happens after this race.”

Preparing to represent Australia again

Hocking told her coach Rohan Taylor, at one point, that she had retired for good. Photo: Getty

The rest is history – she qualified for the Olympic Games with her best time in years, upsetting world champion Emily Seebohm.

One member of her family she will be thinking of in Rio is her younger brother, Rob.

They share a special connection, both representing Australia but in vastly different realms – he is a soldier, based in Townsville.

Hocking remembers what he said when she was trying to persuade him against doing a tour of Afghanistan.

“He [said], ‘Bindy, it would be like you making the Olympic Games, training for four years, and then not going’,” Hocking said.

“What was I meant to say to that? I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and I just said, ‘You’ve got my blessing’.”

He knew better than anyone the analogy would hit home for his determined sister.

But now Hocking knows that no matter what happens in Rio, her life will be just fine.

-ABC