Losing joy, battling injuries: The struggles athletes face as retirement looms and why they move on

“All the other meets before that, there was a lot of internal turmoil. But after I swam that last relay race, I felt so at peace,” added Liew, who clinched silver in the women’s 10km open water event and followed it up with another silver in the open water mixed relay at the SEA Games.

“It was a really good feeling that I had given everything that I could, that I was very happy with the sport. That last swim felt like a love letter to swimming.”

After moving on to their next phase of life, the athletes are enjoying the change of scenery.

“I was quite happy (to move on). I suddenly have more time,” said Ong, a final year law student at the National University of Singapore who now coaches from time to time.

“Now that I quit the sport, I feel that I can appreciate the sport more. In that kind of high-performance circumstance, I find it is a bit hard to truly love the sport.”

Liew, who works in the finance sector, said that she looks forward to her morning swims even more than when she was an athlete.

“Yes, I do miss (competitive swimming) to a certain extent … (but) at the end of the day, when I was a professional athlete, it was a job. I don’t miss that pressure, and I don’t miss all of that stress surrounding doing the sport,” she said.

“Now I can just enjoy swimming for what it is, in its purest form.”

These days, injuries no longer faze Muncherji like they used to. In fact, he is rediscovering his love for the sport. 

“It’s weird, because it’s kind of become the best part of my day,” he said. “It’s like I’m back to square one but without the additional pressures of myself and expectations from anyone.”