Chelsea Hodges opted to retire from competitive swimming aged just 22, weeks out from the Australian Olympic trials.Hodges will continue to work with Swimming Australia as a performance support assistant alongside her career as a nurse.
Hodges, who has suffered from multiple hip injuries in her career, said it was not worth rolling the dice for one more shot at Olympic glory in Paris, crediting her doctor John Ward with being honest enough to tell her "the hard truth"."I actually have the hips of a 60-year-old. Chelsea Hodges was part of Australia's 4x100m medley relay gold-medal-winning Tokyo dream team with Emma Mckeon , Kaylee Mckeown and Cate Campbell.Hodges's swim in the final was described as "phenomenal" by head coach Rohan Taylor, limiting her time losses to America's individual 100m breaststroke champion Lydia Jacoby to put the Aussies in a position to win gold and break the Olympic Record.
"And hopefully, all things going to plan, run on the beach with my kids. I'll still be cheering on the Dolphins in Paris and can't wait to see how the team goes. As we crammed into court, one big question remained. But after an abrupt answer, we hit the cliffhanger