It’s one of the fastest swim meets of the year, where impressive feats of speed often call for the history books to be re-written when the lights come down. However, this is not a competition between professionals swimmers, but for college kids. Many putting down the books between midterms to pick up the mantle as some of the most elite swimmers in the world. The NCAA championships were held in Austin, Texas from Mar. 20 to 23 this past weekend.

DAY ONE:

The first session of the meet began with Stanford taking the win in the 2×400 yard freestyle relay. It was a dominant performance by Katie Drabot, Ella Eastin, Taylor Ruck (Canadian and Freshman), and Brooke Forde, who won the head almost three seconds ahead of Cal in 6:47.22.

DAY TWO:

The first individual events contested were the 500 free, 200 individual medley (IM), and 50 free, followed by the 400IM relay.

500 Free

For the first time in a couple years, Katie Ledecky, who turned professional last year, would not be in the field as a favourite for this event. This weekend event was dominated by Stanford’s Brooke Forde, who dropped over five seconds from a 4:38 to win in 4:31.34. Second belonged to Virginia’s Paige Madden, who also dropped massive time to touch in 4:32.98. While the race was impressive, both ladies were far off the NCAA record held by the legendary Ledecky.

1. GOLD: Brooke Forde, Stanford, 4:31.34
2. SILVER: Paige Madden, Virginia, 4:32.98
3. BRONZE: Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota, 4:35.21

200IM

Beata Nelson from Wisconsin upset Stanford favourite Ella Eastin to become the second fastest-ever performer in this event, and NCAA champion. Nelson has been working on her breaststroke and the training paid off as she pulled away in that leg.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:50.79
2. SILVER: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 1:51.81
3. BRONZE: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 1:51.84

50 Free

The sprint events got going with the good old splash and dash. It had been three years since Abbey Weitzeil from Cal had set her American Record, and finally she swept it away. She touched in a 21.02, taking a tenth of her best. Weitzeil remains the fastest woman in history, owning four of the ten fastest times ever. The rest of the field was extremely tight. There was just a hundredth between fourth and fifth, and fifth and sixth.

1. GOLD: Abbey Weitzeil, Cal, 21.02
2. SILVER: Erika Brown, Tennessee, 21.23
3. BRONZE: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 21.49

400 IM Relay

Amy Bilquist took it out hard for Cal in the first 100 fly, clocking 50.84. Cal would have to hold off breaststroke queen, Lilly King, who came storming back in the third leg, digging into Cal’s lead.  After her win in the 50 free, Weitzeil was ready to rip and took the lead immediately after diving in, blowing away the field with a split of 45.87 for her 100 yard free. Cal touched first in 3:25.24.

DAY THREE:

Five individual events were contested on the third day: the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. The session closed with the 200 medley relay.

400 IM

After winning this event for the last three years, Ella Eastin from Stanford was the favourite in the field. However, she had relinquished her streak in the 200IM just yesterday to a young rookie, so this was a redemption performance. And redeem she did – Eastin held off late charger Sydney Pickrem to touch first. While Eastin’s time of 3:57.03 was well off her record of 3:54.60 set last year, a win is a win.

1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, 3:57.03
2. SILVER: Sydney Pickrem, 3:58.23
3. BRONZE: Brooke Forde, 3:59.26

100 Fly

USC’s Louise Hansson struck gold last year in this event, and was right on her own record after the first 50. She stormed to the finish, posting the fastest time in NCAA history with a new record of 49.26. Michigan freshman Maggie MacNeil touched just behind her in 49.66.

1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 49.26
2. SILVER: Maggie MacNeil, Michigan, 49.66
3. BRONZE: Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 49.97

200 Freestyle

Coming into the final turn, Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, Stanford’s Taylor Ruck, and Michigan’s Slobhan Haughey were neck and neck. While Comerford, the defending champion, shot off the turn, all three women came to the wall stroke for stroke. At the touch, Comerford defended her title in 1:40.26. Ruck was only a fingertip behind Comerford, touching in 1:40.27, and Haughey came in with a 1:40.70.

100 Breaststroke

Breaststroke queen Lilly King came to these NCAAs looking to defend her title streak in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. If she did, she would become the first woman in history to four-peat in both breaststroke distances. She came to make a statement, and there was no denying who was in charge of this event. King was well under her own record pace at the 50, splitting 25.98. At the touch, she was 55.73, breaking her own American record and making history in the event.

1. GOLD: Lilly King, Indiana, 55.73
2. SILVER: Delaney Duncan, EMU, 57.83
3. BRONZE: Sophie Hansson, NC State, 57.90

100 Backstroke

Young speedster Regan Smith broke the American Record in this event just a couple weekends ago, stealing it from Beata Nelson. Nelson was in the hunt to reclaim her title, and she took off with a blistering opening 50, turning at 23.76. She charged home crushing the American record by over half a second, and also setting a new NCAA standard. This performance makes Nelson two wins over two years in this event. Amy Bilquist took second, and Canadian, Taylor Ruck took her second bronze of the night with a best time.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 49.18
2. SILVER: Amy Bilquist, Cal, 50.05
3. BRONZE: Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 50.34

200 IM

Tennessee took this relay out hard on the backstroke leg, with Meghan Small splitting 24.05. With the field excruciatingly tight, Erika Brown held off Cal’s charging Abbey Weitzeil for the win. Weitzeil tied the fastest freestyle leg in history in her pursuit of Tennessee and kept raking in the points for Cal. This performance put Cal at the top of team points board going into the final session with 328 over Stanford’s 299.5.

1. GOLD: Tennessee- 1:34.10
2. SILVER: Cal- 1:34.43
3. BRONZE: NC State- 1:34.80

DAY FOUR:

The final session saw the individual 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. The meet closed with the 400 free relay.

1650 Freestyle

Again the shadow of Katie Ledecky’s legacy kept any record from being broken, or even approached by the field. However, the athletes put up a great back and forth in the first part of the race, with Ally McHugh from Penn State building her lead over the back end of the race. With 500 yards to go, she dominated the field. She touched with a 15:39.22. Molly Kowal of Ohio dropped almost five seconds to take silver in 15:44.61. Mackenzie Padington from Minnesota touched third.

1. GOLD: Ally McHugh, Penn State, 15:39.22
2. SILVER: Molly Kowal, Ohio State, 15:44.61
3. BRONZE: Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota, 15:47.16

200 Free

This event was a back and forth battle between Wisonsin’s Beata Nelson and Stanford’s Taylor Ruck. It was Ruck at the 100, and then at the 150, but then Nelson used her killer underwater to pull away. Nelson touched at 1:47.24, just ahead of Ruck with 1:47.59. Ruck’s performance was a Stanford school record, and the third fastest time in the event.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:47.24
2. SILVER: Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 1:47.59
3. BRONZE: Asia Seidt, Kentucky, 1:48.65

100 Free

Favourite, Abbey Weitzeil hyperextended her elbow on the touch of the relay last night and was swimming with some serious tape to stabilize the injury. A very fast field took advantage and shut her out of the medals. Mallory Comerford set a new pool record in 46.24 to win gold.

1. GOLD: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 46.24
2. SILVER: Anna Hopkin, Arkansas, 46.56
3. BRONZE: Siobhan Haughey, Michigan, 46.64

200 Breaststroke

Lilly King was back in the hunt, looking to go two wins for the two breaststroke events for all four years of her collegiate career. The pressure was on, but so was King. She was over a second ahead already at the 50 mark, turning in 27.39. She continued dominating the field and touched only just off the record she set last year in the event. Her performance was the second fastest ever in the event, as she continues to duel herself for speed. Texas A&M’s (and Canadian) Sydney Pickrem took off almost a second to get silver.

1. GOLD: Lilly King, Indiana, 2:02.90
2. SILVER: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 2:03.65
3. BRONZE: Sophie Hansson, NC State, 2:06.18

200 Butterfly

100 butterfly winner from USC Louise Hansson was out fast in her usual fashion, way under record pace. Ella Eastin, the woman who owns the record in this event, started chasing her down after the first 100, putting the sprinter to the test. Hansson was able to just hold off Eastin’s charge, touching a fingertip ahead at 1:50.26 over Eastin’s 1:50.46.

1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 1:50.26
2. SILVER: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 1:50.46
3. BRONZE: Grace Oglesby, Louisville, 1:50.80

400 Freestyle relay

In the final event of the championships, the schools lined up to contest the 4×100 yard freestyle relay. It was a dead heat leading into the anchor leg; the gold could belong to anyone. But it was Abby Weitzeil still with her elbow wrapped in tape, whose speed could not be denied. She split a 46.07 on the way to Cal collecting a new NCAA record of 3:06.96. Although this time is also faster than the current American record, Weitzeil’s tape job is against the rules.

The meet ended with Stanford as the champions for the third year in a row. They scored 456.5 points to California’s 419.

It was a granola bar company that stepped up and closed the gap. LUNA Bar is directly giving all 23 players over $31 thousand each.

“When LUNA Bar approached us in January to support and recognize the USWNT players in this way, I was speechless,” said Becca Roux, USWNTPA executive director. “Many brands raising awareness for equal pay use the USWNT’s fight as an example, but don’t go the extra step to offer a solution to the problem.”

The three-time World Cup-winning team has been fighting to equal pay since 2016. Earlier last month, the USWNT sued US Soccer for gender discrimination. Despite never winning a World Cup, the men’s team receives better pay, better field conditions and better travel accommodations.

Jill Ellis, USWNT head coach, also gets paid significantly less than the coaches for the men’s teams.

Other good news is that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the NHL has agreed to provide a larger financial contribution to the NWHL. The league will now be one of the NWHL’s biggest sponsors.

Previously, the NHL gave the NWHL and CWHL $50 thousand each. TSN says that number will increase to $100 thousand for the NWHL. Dani Rylan, NWHL commissioner, has refused to disclose any official financial information.

There might be more teams included in the expansion in the near future, but no official announcements have been made.

Rylan is unsure of whether the NWHL will absorb the already-existing franchises or create new ones.

The NWHL will now be a seven-team league, with the other teams being the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Boston Pride and Minnesota Whitecaps.

The CWHL, founded in 2007, was the first successful women’s hockey league in North America and was home to world-class stars, including Natalie Spooner, Brianna Decker and Marie-Philip Poulin. None of the players and staff knew about the heartbreaking decision to fold the league until just before the press release yesterday morning.

Since then, there has been a lot of grief expressed by players, staff and fans across social media. For many of them, the biggest question is, “What now?”

Fans have been tweeting and commenting on related posts, wondering if the NHL can better support women’s hockey, and if the NWHL can adopt the CWHL teams.

Here’s a summary of what the leagues have said:

NWHL

The league met with the CWHL in January to talk about forming one league, and they had agreed to meet again in April.

“We are sorry to know those talks will not continue,” NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan said.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t the possibility that the NWHL, who just had a record-breaking season in attendance, will take matters into their own hands.

In her follow-up statement, Rylan said, “We will pursue any and all opportunities to ensure the best players in Canada have a place to play. Those conversations have started already and have quickly become a priority.”

NHL

In attempts to avoid the appearance of favouring one league over the other, the NHL hasn’t been as generous towards the NWHL and CWHL as people would like them to be.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman mentioned in an AP article that he is hesitant about helping the CWHL and NWHL because the NHL doesn’t believe in their models.

Bettman has said the NHL would create a women’s league of its own, but only if there isn’t already a women’s professional league in existence in North America.

It seems the NHL won’t be making a move any time soon, as the NWHL said in their statement yesterday they will open their fifth season in October.

The CWHL awards took place this past Friday and were a great showcase of the league’s top talents.

Alongside host Caroline Cameron, each team had a tribute introduced by a young female hockey player from their local community. Hopefully those girls will be back in the future accepting awards of their own.

Rookie of the Year went to Victoria Bach of the Markham Thunder. Bach was the top scoring rookie this season and finished fourth in the league with a total of 32 points. Markham’s other award for the night went to Jim Jackson for coach of the year. Jackson was able to bring the team straight back into the playoffs after their championship win last season, though they just fell short in their series to Montreal.

Defensewoman of the Year was awarded to Erin Ambrose of les Canadiennes de Montréal. Ambrose led the league for points for a defenseman with 24. Alex Rigsby of the Calgary Inferno claimed Goaltender of the year, finishing the season with a Goals Against Average of 2.04 and only two regulation losses.

Humanitarian of the Year went outside the league this year, and was presented to Michael Bartlett, head of community affairs at MLSE. Michael has had a strong role with the partnership between the CWHL and MLSE, and specifically the partnership between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Furies.

Marie-Philip Poulin came out as the big winner of the night, as she took home an incredible three awards. The first was the pre-determined Angela James Bowl, marking her third win for that award in four years. The James Bowl is given to the top regular season scorer, which Poulin claimed with her 50pt run. She also took home the Jayna Hefford Trophy, representing the player voted MVP of the season, which again marks her third time winning it in the past four years. Finally, Poulin was named the CWHL MVP for her role in leading Team Canada to a silver medal in Pyeongchang, and her Canadiennes to the Clarkson Cup final. As well, same as the first two awards, Poulin is taking home that trophy for the third time in four years.

On Sunday, the Calgary Inferno and Les Canadiennes de Montréal squared off in the Clarkson Cup final at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. For those unable to watch the game in person, it was broadcasted on Sportsnet in Canada and NHL Network in the United States. In what was the most-anticipated game of the 2018-19 campaign, the Inferno came out on top in a 5-2 win over Les Canadiennes.

The fans did not have to wait long for the game’s opening goal, with Calgary forward Zoe Hickel getting her team on the board before the midway point of the first period. About five minutes later, defender Halli Krzyzaniak scored to put the Inferno ahead 2-0 going into the intermission. Calgary outshot Montréal 11-6 in the opening frame.

Early in the second period, Ann-Sophie Bettez responded for Les Canadiennes to cut the deficit in half. While on the power play, Inferno forward Brianna Decker picked up her third goal of the playoffs to restore Calgary’s two-goal lead. However, Bettez got her second tally of the game on a power play for Montréal to get them back to within one.

Trailing by one goal heading into the third period, Les Canadiennes made a late-game push. They outshot the Inferno 14-10 in the final frame, but Calgary goaltender Alex Rigsby shut the door. An insurance marker for the Inferno came on Hickel’s second of the game, while Rebecca Johnston scored an empty net goal to secure the win.

The final shots on goal were 30-27 in favour of Calgary, while each side was given five power play opportunities. Les Canadiennes were without captain Marie-Phillip Poulin, who was a major absence in their lineup due to injury. After scoring the game-winning goal, Decker was named the Clarkson Cup’s most valuable player.

Before 64 of the top women’s basketball teams begin their emotionally grinding three-week journey, here’s a preview to help guide you through the madness.

The top seeds across all four regions will be tough with up to 11 teams having a reasonable claim to winning the entire tournament. Luckily for us, the tournament is already broken down into neat little regions that are already named.

To start, we’ll take a trip to the region hosting the top team for most of the country in the Baylor Lady Bears. The Lady Bears have been the unanimous top ranked team in the AP Poll since late February in part to an undefeated Big 12 season. The Lady Bears beat the former top team, Connecticut, in early January to close the non-conference portion of their schedule in which their only loss was by five during a trip to Stanford. The Lady Bears will be looking to make their first final four since 2012 when they won it all.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will be their main challengers as the two seed after finishing the season ranked eighth and going 26-6, including beating Maryland for the Big 10 championship. Megan Gustafson will be leading Iowa as they search for the upset after winning ESPNW’s Player of the Year award after leading the nation by averaging 28 points per game.

North Carolina State is a three seed after a dominant season, but they lack any high-quality wins with their two best wins coming against Miami and Florida state near the end of the season. The Wolfpack, along with the Hawkeyes, will be happy that Florida State can’t meet them until the elite eight. The Seminoles beat both of those teams this season but still couldn’t do better than a five seed without any other ranked wins.

An underdog to watch out for from the Missouri Valley Conference are the Drake Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have spent the season just within or creeping outside the top 25 and were ranked #21 before losing in the conference championship game. Dropping to the 10 seed as a result, Drake still has an RPI rank of 20, thanks to a win over South Carolina, ranked 15^th, and a nine-point loss to Iowa in a game that could happen again in the second round.

The defending champion, Notre Dame Irish, are the top seed in the Chicago regional. Late-season losses to North Carolina and Miami shouldn’t overshadow how they got a top seed. A pair of wins over fellow top-seed Louisville, North Carolina State, Florida State, Syracuse, Oregon State, Iowa, DePaul and Marquette show this team can beat anyone.

The only real challenge in this region should be the Stanford Cardinals as the two seed, the team that knocked Notre Dame out in both 2016 and 2017. The Cardinals finished the year ranked sixth after winning a highly competitive PAC 12 championship by beating Oregon, to go along with being the only team to beat Baylor this season. With both Iowa State and Texas A&M ranked outside the top 10 as the three and four seed, Notre Dame and Stanford appear on a collision course.

One team Stanford will have to be careful of is a potential matchup with BYU in the second round. The Cougars swept Gonzaga, a top-20 team the last two and a half months, across three games this season to win the West Coast Conference.

Since I know you’re here for the underdogs, keep an eye on the Rice Owls who finished the year 28-3 in Conference USA, but only managed a 12 seed. Rice lost their only game against a top-25 team, an 11-point loss to TEXAS A&M, but have also gone undefeated since Dec.18.

Albany will be host to a highly anticipated Louisville-Connecticut showdown, although the region is also loaded with Maryland, Oregon State and Gonzaga all lurking. Louisville is the top seed after losing three games all season, with two, being to the Fighting Irish.

If the Cardinals want to make consecutive Final Fours they will need to get by one of the greatest dynasties in sports history as Connecticut is the two seed after losing two games all year. One was to Baylor, but much more importantly their second loss was on New Year’s Eve at Louisville, which was a nine-point loss.

Maryland was the Big 10 regular-season champ and had a win over South Carolina. Oregon State was a top-15 team all season thanks to wins over Oregon and South Carolina to go with a 10-point loss to Notre Dame. Finally, Gonzaga lost to two teams this season, BYU three times and Notre Dame so they should be on the hunt for revenge.

A sneaky upset could come from Buffalo, a team that finished fourth in the MAC before winning the tournament to make it this far. The Bulls only lost by seven to Stanford though during the regular season, which they can use as motivation against top teams.

The final region is based out of Portland with many expecting a Mississippi vs Oregon final, which would be a home game for the two seed. The Bulldogs will be making the long trip as the top seed after they lost two games by eight points each; one was to Missouri while the other was at Oregon. A cruel fate could doom the Bulldogs with the selection committee doing them no favours this year.

Oregon isn’t unbeatable though having dropped games to Michigan State and UCLA, which were unranked, along with defeats to the other top teams out west in Oregon State and Stanford in the PAC 12 championship game. Sabrina Ionescu will be expected to put up her usual triple-double as Oregon battles for a championship.

Lacking any true upset hunters in this region keep an eye on a pair of teams from the Summit league that sit just outside the top 25: South Dakota and South Dakota State. South Dakota picked up a pair of big wins over Iowa State and Missouri this season and will look to pull off some surprises as an eight seed. South Dakota State lacks such wins but did only lose to Baylor by six and Oregon by eight so they know they can scare top teams as a six seed.

My pick to win it all is Oregon, due to the star talent of Ionescu, along with the fact that they are the one team I can confidently pick to reach Tampa for the Final Four.

While many of the awards are voted on, there are two that have already been decided with the formal presentation to come over the weekend. The Angela James Bowl is awarded to the highest-scoring player of the year. This year’s recipient will be Marie-Philip Poulin from Les Canadiennes de Montreal, who finished the season with 50 points. Poulin also received this award in both 2016 and 2017. The other decided award is the Chairman’s Trophy, which is awarded to the regular season champions. Calgary Inferno have claimed it this season, finishing with a record of 25-4-1.

The remainder of the awards will be unveiled on the 22^nd. These include the Rookie, Defensemen, Goaltender, and Coach of the Year awards, the Jayna Hefford Trophy, and the Humanitarian Award. Taking a closer look into the race for these distinctions, the nominees for the Rookie of the Year are: Rebecca Leslie of the Calgary Inferno with 26 points, Victoria Bach of the Markham Thunder with 32 points, and Sarah Nurse of the Toronto Furies with 26 points. All three are forwards who have made an impact in the league this season.

For Defensemen of the Year, the nominees include: Kacey Bellamey, Inferno, who holds the season record for lowest even strength goals against with only 10; Erin Ambrose, Les Canadiennes, who finished with 24 points; and Laura Fortino, Thunder, who totaled 18 points on the season.

Goaltender of the Year candidates are: Alex Rigsby, Inferno, with a 2.04 GAA and 0.916 SV%; Emerance Maschmeyer, Les Canadiennes, with a 1.45 GAA and 0.935 SV%; and Noora Raty, Red Stars, with a 2.96 GAA and 0.921 SV%.

Coach of the Year nominees include Ryan Hilderman of the Inferno, Jim Jackson of the Thunder, and Courtney Kessel, of the Furies.

The big award of the night is the Jayna Hefford Trophy, which is the MVP award voted by the players. The first potential winner is Brianne Jenner from the Calgary Inferno. Jenner finished the season with 32 points, assisting her team to the Clarkson Cup finals. The next nominee is Emerance Maschmeyer. Maschmeyer is the goalie for Les Canadiennes de Montreal, and had a 15-4-1 record on the season. She recorded four shutouts in the season, and notched an extra two in the playoffs. Finally, the last nominee is Marie-Philip Poulin of Les Canadiennes de Montreal. Poulin finished the season with a league-leading 50 points. She also won this award in 2016.

Overall, the awards are shaping up to be an exciting night celebrating the top athletes in Women’s Hockey. Fans are able to buy tickets for the reception and show through the CWHL website, with student discounts available.

On Sunday, the Minnesota Whitecaps hosted the Buffalo Beauts in the 2019 Isobel Cup final at TRIA Rink. With home ice advantage and the top seed in the playoffs, Minnesota defeated the defending champion Metropolitan Riveters in the semi-final on Friday.

Late in the opening frame, Buffalo drew first blood on a goal from defender Emily Pfalzer. It was her second goal and third point of the playoffs, but it was not long until the Whitecaps responded. Less than two minutes later, Minnesota forward Amy Menke sniped the puck past Beauts goaltender Nicole Hensley and knotted the game 1-1.

Although Buffalo outshot Minnesota 8-5 in the first period, the Whitecaps would strike back by outshooting the Beauts 13-8 in the middle frame. By the end of regulation, Minnesota had outshot Buffalo by a total of 30-23. Both Hensley and Whitecaps goaltender Amanda Leveille were perfect in the final 40 minutes, resulting in overtime.

A mere 49 seconds into overtime, a point shot by Minnesota defender Lee Stecklein found its way through, beating goaltender Hensley and clinching an Isobel Cup victory for the Whitecaps. Following the team’s on-ice celebration, Stecklein was named the most valuable player of the NWHL playoffs, picking up two points in the final.

This is Minnesota’s second championship, as they won the Clarkson Cup in 2010 competing in the Western Women’s Hockey League. The Beauts have now competed in all four Isobel Cup final games, winning one in 2017. Since first being awarded in 2016, the NWHL has seen a different Isobel Cup champion each and every year.

After the 2016 Rio Olympics, Emma Twigg was finished with competitive rowing. She finished a heart-breaking fourth in the single scull event by less than a second. She had to stand to the side as her competitors mounted the podium. While this would be a hard circumstance in itself, it was devastatingly familiar. Twigg had finished fourth in the 2012 London Olympics. This was her worst nightmare, repeated. While she had completed an outstanding career as an admirable rower, she announced her retirement soon after the closing ceremonies.

And yet … now she’s back.

It was after volunteering at the 2018 Winter Olympics, that the Olympic fire in her, reignited. In March of last year she told newsroom.co.nz: “There’s a lot of work to do, because I haven’t touched an oar pretty much since I left Rio. Maybe I’m being completely unrealistic, but it’s one of those things that I’ve got to try.”

But Twigg didn’t just sit on the couch since Rio wrapped up. Last year, Twigg, Sarah van Bellekom and Rebecca Wardell, began a charity bike ride from Lake Geneva in Switzerland to Lake Hawea, in New Zealand. The ride benefited a New Zealand organization called, Forward Foundation, which seeks to inspire the next generation of female leaders through sport. Twigg rode through the first five months of the odyssey, clocking 100km bikes everyday while still stopping to erg and row along the way. She had to cut her participation short to make sure she returned to New Zealand with enough time to start her rowing training formally. To track the remaining two riders on their journey, visit their website.

To say the least, Twigg’s path has been unconventional. But it isn’t even the first time she had broken from the common route. Before the Rio Olympics, she had taken a break from the New Zealand training centre to complete her Master’s degree in Europe. She qualified for that Olympics, at the, ‘last chance’ regatta.people.”

Now 31, Twigg won Rowing New Zealand 2019 Single Scull Trials in the first weekend in March. Her performance cements her place on the country’s international team that will compete in the World Cups and World Championships this summer.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be coming back not to win a medal,” Twigg told NZOlympics in an interview at the Trials. “But I think at the end of the day having a medal or not having a medal is not going to define me. I think it’s more about what I get out of the sport and what I can give back to other people.”

Sometimes the conventional path is overrated. She will be a story to watch in the months ahead.