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Posted: 2024-06-13 03:49:25

Rhyme-time. Mum's group. Swimming lessons.

Competing in the Australian Olympic trials?

Those first three activities are staples for new parents across the country.

The last one? That is pretty unique to Emily Seebohm.

The 30-year-old's dreams of becoming a five-time Olympian are still alive after qualifying fourth-fastest for Thursday night's 200m backstroke final at the Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane.

But for the first-time mum, a far more important feat will be showing that anything is possible.

"I think a lot of people when I announced I was coming back, they were like, oh, that will never happen. You won't be able to do it," Seebohm said following her heat swim on Thursday morning.

"I'm doing it for myself and I'm doing it to prove to [son] Sampson that if you've got a dream, don't let anyone tell you can't do it."

Seebohm is bidding to become just the third Australian swimmer to compete at an Olympics as a mother, and first since Hayley Lewis in 2000.

Emily Seebohm stands in front of a bright light

Emily Seebohm is eyeing a ticket to Paris only months after giving birth.(Getty Images: Chris Hyde)

For most, combining the rigorous training required to mount a bid for a spot at the Olympic Games with a newborn would be beyond comprehension.

But Seebohm has not only done that, she's thrived and put herself in a great position to make the Games team in the 200m backstroke, an event she last won a major medal in at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

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