Chelsea Hodges, a member of Australia’s gold medal-winning women’s 4x100m medley relay team at the Tokyo Olympics, has made the shock decision to retire from professional swimming, effective immediately.
The 22-year-old, who has risen to become Australia’s premier female breaststroker, said she had made the agonising decision due to ongoing hip and back injuries that have plagued her career.
“Over the last few weeks I’ve been deliberating what my career and the rest of my life looks like. I’ve made the decision to retire from competitive swimming,” Hodges told this masthead. “I’ve been taking a lot of medical advice. It’s hard … I’ve told my close friends and family.”
Hodges has opened up on her brutal battle to get her body right for the rigours of top-flight swimming, during which she underwent three serious operations. Ultimately, the pain was too much to handle. Specialists told Hodges her hip resembled that of a 60-year-old.
A bronze medallist in the 100m breaststroke final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Hodges knew her continued participation in swimming could adversely impact her future quality of life.
Hodges entered the Australian Swimming Championships last month, which effectively serves as a final hit-out before the Olympic trials, before being forced to pull out.
