Australian swimming star Shayna Jack has announced that the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will mark the final time she represents Australia.
The Olympic gold medallist will bring the curtain down on her international career (after six days of racing from July 24-29), with the sprint specialist set to make one last push alongside her Australian teammates.
Rather than waiting until the competition had concluded, Jack said she wanted to share the news before the Games so she could fully embrace the experience with the team that has been central to her journey.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
“I didn’t want to go out on my own … because I didn’t do this journey on my own,” the 27-year-old said.
“I wanted to announce this ahead of the Games to soak in all the moments with this team that I love.
“There will be tears, but first some serious racing.”
One of Australia’s most experienced relay swimmers, this Commonwealth Games will be special for Jack, who is representing Australia alongside her younger brother, Jamie (who is competing in his maiden Comm Games).
The Jack siblings are the first sister-brother duo to represent Australia since Emma and David McKeon swam at the 2018 Gold Coast Games. “It’s obviously really special when we do achieve those dreams and those goals,” Shayna Jack said when she qualified for these games.
“For me, tonight it was just honestly like so special to be able to get myself on the team with my brother.
“It’s been a long journey, and as I’ve mentioned, I haven’t dealt with a lot of my past traumas, and that’s why I probably struggled a lot to come back after Paris.
“I was honestly so proud of myself being here today.”
Jack, 27, was part of Australia’s gold medal-winning 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle teams in Paris after serving a two-year ban.
The Brisbane product had failed an out-of-competition drug test in 2019 and missed out on the Tokyo Olympics.
After an investigation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found an accident had led Jack to ingest a banned substance.
– With AAP
