RIO DE JANEIRO, August 2 (Xinhua) -- Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands, winner of the 50m and 100m freestyle at the 2012 London Games, said she has rediscovered her passion for swimming.
She had been fell out of love with swimming to the point that she even pondered quitting the sport.
No woman has ever successfully defended both the one-length and two-length freestyle sprints, with the Dutch admitting it is a more formidable task than four years ago, but adding with a smile: "I hope I'm better than ever."
Her coach Patrick Pearson said Kromowidjojo had even considered retirement.
Kromowidjojo admitted that rocketing to fame after 2012, when she took her tally of Olympic golds to three, completely changed her life and she was ill-equipped to face the "madness" that followed.
"She had difficulty motivating herself. There was a lot of external pressure on her," Pearson said. "People were demanding results, expecting that as double Olympic champion she would keep performing at that same level. What I saw was someone who had difficulty balancing her private life with the motivation she needed to swim fast in the pool.
"She needed to find more fun in swimming again because she lost all the fun and rediscovering that feeling helped a lot. In summer 2014 she rediscovered herself a bit. She's enjoying it a lot again now."
Kromowidjojo has to face the challenge from Aussie sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, who have taken over as the fastest freestylers in the last couple of years.
"If she is able to race her best race in the final, she'll be able to win gold," said Pearson.
