{"id":587976,"date":"2024-06-17T14:13:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T21:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=587976"},"modified":"2024-06-17T20:09:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T03:09:32","slug":"paige-madden-uses-re-found-love-of-swimming-to-surge-to-second-olympic-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/paige-madden-uses-re-found-love-of-swimming-to-surge-to-second-olympic-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Paige Madden Uses Re-found Love of Swimming to Surge to Second Olympic Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paige Madden<\/strong> was on top of the world.<\/p>\n

The University of Virginia champion qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and swam her best times on the Olympic stage.<\/p>\n

So fast that she continued her career as a professional swimmer.<\/p>\n

But things quickly changed.<\/p>\n

“I struggled my first year as a pro swimmer because my whole life, I have been a student-athlete and all of a sudden, I was Paige the swimmer. It really wore on my self-worth. There were several points I thought I was done with the sport. I was at an all-time low. … I think going abroad and getting my masters took the edge off and I was a student-athlete again,” Madden said. “It was a lot. I was sort of all over the place. But I think I needed to get through that to get where I am now. Just learning to fall back in love with swimming, getting my head right and my health right – it was all necessary. It takes such an emotional toll.”<\/p>\n

Madden got her master’s degree at Loughborough University in Great Britain, re-found that love and started the second phase of her career, that has led to a second Olympic team.<\/p>\n

Madden finished second in the 400 freestyle to earn a spot in Paris.<\/p>\n

“I think I am pretty resilient,” she said. “I love pressure and I thrive under it. It was learning to enjoy the sport rather than define my success on times. More than anything, I never thought I would go a best time ever again after Tokyo.”<\/p>\n

But on Saturday, Madden threw down a 4:02.08 to finish second. She was four seconds behind Katie<\/strong> Ledecky<\/strong>, who broke the meet record in 3:58.35, but Madden was so dominant that she, in turn, was more than four seconds ahead of the rest of the field.<\/p>\n

“It is crazy. I never thought I would be a one-time Olympian, so to be two-time is amazing,” Paige Madden said. “It takes a village for me to get where I am. I am thankful for everyone who has helped get me here. But it shows that I can do hard things. I have worked really, really had this year and hard work pays off.”<\/p>\n