Mollie O'Callaghan entered the year burdened by the status that came with becoming an individual Olympic gold medallist. Later in January, she dislocated her knee. In June, she broke down in tears and laid out her struggles, unravelling in a heartbreaking television interview.
"This year, oh my god," O'Callaghan said at the swimming world championships in Singapore on Wednesday night.
"Honestly, coming here was one of the last things I thought I would do."
READ MORE: Investigation launched after illness ruins Aussie's gold-medal shot
READ MORE: Latest twist to controversial GWS party as pub faces penalty
READ MORE: 'Not that type of guy': Luai drops hint over contract loophole
How gloriously wrong she was.
O'Callaghan suited up on night four of the world championships, famous gold cap and all, and muscled her way to another gold medal.
She unleashed a thunderous final lap to clinch gold in the women's 200-metre freestyle.
Watch the World Aquatics Championships live and free on Nine and 9Now.
In doing so, she drew level with Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett on 10 long-course world championship gold medals.
The only Australian who's won more long-course world championship golds is Ian Thorpe, who secured 11.
And with the 100m freestyle and more relays to come, O'Callaghan could match and pass Thorpe before her work in Singapore is done.
"At the start of the year, if you told me I would become world champion again, I would be shocked," O'Callaghan said.
The 21-year-old was being interviewed by Australian swimming great Cate Campbell on the Nine broadcast after her triumph in the 200m.
Campbell was also the interviewer in that tear-jerking interview in June, at Australia's trials for the world championships. Campbell consoled her former Dolphins teammate in Adelaide, telling her she should "be so incredibly proud".
Standing poolside in Singapore, Australian flag draped around her shoulders, the champion from Logan was gleaming with pride.
"It's quite unbelievable to be able to stand on the podium for my country again," O'Callaghan smiled.
Showing no signs of the suspected food poisoning that struck Dolphins teammate Sam Short earlier on Wednesday, O'Callaghan clinched gold with a time of one minute, 53.48 seconds (1:53.48).
China's Bingjie Li grabbed silver in 1:54.52 as American Claire Weinstein took bronze in 1:54.67.
Australia's Jamie Perkins finished seventh in 1:56.55.
O'Callaghan only had a lead of 0.22 of a second over second place at the final turn — at that stage, Weinstein was her nearest opponent — but a 28.41-second final lap blew her rivals away.
Of the 10 long-course world championship gold medals O'Callaghan has won, four are from individual races.
Wednesday night's 200m win followed her triumph in the four-lap event at the Fukuoka world titles of 2023.
She also won the Olympic 200m freestyle title in Paris last year.
"I've dedicated my whole life to this, from school years, skipping school a little bit," O'Callaghan laughed.
"Literally, day in, day out, coming to the pool, being at the pool for like five hours in the morning, coming back, doing it again [in the afternoon], and just giving up those little things to dedicate it to this moment … It's all worth it in the long run for me, and it's something I enjoy, and moments like this make it so much better."
Aussie youngster's shock bronze … from lane eight
Wednesday night also saw Australia's Harrison Turner, a 21-year-old from Brisbane, snare a shock bronze medal in the men's 200m butterfly — and he did so in lane eight.
The Queenslander also broke the Australian record, cranking out a time of 1:54.17 to take down the 1:54.46 posted by Nick D'Arcy in Sydney in 2009.
"If you told me I was going to win a bronze medal at the start of the year with a PB [personal best] of 1:57, I would have been like, 'Yeah, nah, you're dreaming'. I'm lost for words," Turner told Campbell on the Nine broadcast.
"Being in eight lane, I just snuck in. I thought, 'I've got a lane, I've got a chance'.
"I never would have imagined to sneak in a bronze there."
Turner is competing at his first senior long-course meet as a Dolphin.
American Luca Urlando won gold in 1:51.87 as Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski picked up silver in 1:52.64.
