Bronte Campbell retires from swimming to pursue staggering ambition

Australian swimming great Bronte Campbell has called time on her decorated career and opened up on her new purpose in life: a mission to “completely change the activewear industry”.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist and former world champion said she “took a long time” to reach the decision to retire, to the point where she’d mapped out with her coach how her two-year lead-in to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games would look in case she did choose to prolong her career.

Campbell revealed her retirement decision in an interview with nine.com.au, saying the thought of going all in on her business venture with Earthletica – an emerging women’s activewear brand that only uses recycled or organic fabrics – was “more meaningful and exciting”.

Asked how proud she was of the career she carved out in the pool, Campbell admitted she’d been doing “so much forward living” that she hadn’t yet stopped to look back.

So she flipped the question around.

“If I reverse that question and speak to my seven-year-old self, who dreamed of going to one Olympic Games – it was all she ever wanted – and if I told that seven-year-old about all the things she was going to get to go do, all the people she was going to meet, and that the best things to come out of it wouldn’t be medals, but these incredible relationships, memories and experiences that are so far beyond the imagination of a seven-year-old … she would think it was some sort of made-up, unrealistic future,” Campbell told nine.com.au.

“Looking at it like that, I feel very grateful for everyone that’s supported me to get there, I feel grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had, and I’ve enjoyed this chapter immensely.

“But I really believe the best things in my life are still coming. I believe it in my soul. It’s exciting to have had such a wonderful experience and then also believe that the best things are still in front of you.”

Campbell, 32, was a member of the Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay teams that won Olympic gold in 2016, 2021 and 2024.

In Rio and Tokyo, she won gold on relay teams alongside her older sister Cate.

Bronte Campbell also won individual gold medals on the world stage. She triumphed in both the 50m and 100m freestyle at the 2015 world championships in Russia.

One moment in 2012 stands out as the clear favourite of her career. It was the moment she finished second in the 50m freestyle at the Australian Olympic trials in Adelaide, behind her sister Cate, to guarantee her place on the team for the London Games.

“It was that first realisation of a dream coming true,” Campbell recalled.

“It’s not my biggest achievement by any stretch, but it was 100 per cent my favourite race and my favourite feeling I’ve ever had after a race.

“It was just absolute joy. That’s a really special moment that will stay with me. It has honestly sustained me for my career. I’ve always loved that feeling and wanted to get close to it again.”

Campbell co-founded Earthletica and is the brand’s chief executive officer.

“Our mission is to completely change the activewear industry – to eradicate virgin plastics from activewear without compromising performance,” she said.

“The overall mission is that I want people to feel excited and optimistic about the future we’re creating.”

Campbell lives in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and swims in the ocean at Bondi Beach every day.

“There are 2.2 million tonnes of waste created by the activewear industry,” she said.

“Some of our recycled materials [used at Earthletica] come from recycled fishing nets that have been recovered from the ocean.

“Especially when I’m swimming in the ocean – it’s so clear and beautiful and cold this time of year – I just want that to be there in the future and want to try to help create that.”

Campbell and her business partners aren’t only trying to transform the activewear industry to protect the environment, but to protect women’s bodies.

The Dolphins champion is attacking her new venture like she chased her goals in the pool.

“When I was seven, people laughed at my dreams of the Olympics and said not many people do that,” Campbell said.

“Now I’m in a fresh new world and people think it’s very unrealistic to change the complete landscape of activewear.

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, but there was a 0.0017 per cent chance of ever going to one Olympics’.

“And there’s something exciting to me about chasing really big goals.”

Source: https://www.nine.com.au/sport/swimming/bronte-campbell-retiring-news-announcement-interview-business-earthletica-20260605-p604c5.html