Seebohm back from the brink

It was in Windsor, Ontario, last December where Emily Seebohm ( above) almost gave up.

She had flopped at the Rio Olympics while secretly battling debilitating endometriosis. The speculation in Australia was she could be finished after a 10- year career, and for a moment she thought she was too.

Her parents John and Karen remember the day vividly. Seebohm was competing at the World Short- Course Championships and they found a moment to catch up with her.

“It was all over,’’ John Seebohm said, the tears welling in his eyes at the memory of his daughter’s unhappiness.

“She basically said: ‘ I’ve just had enough of this’.’’

A few weeks later Seebohm had surgery to relieve the symptoms of her endometriosis then further surgery to remove her wisdom teeth.

Yesterday, a year after the devastation of Rio, she reached the peak again, retaining the world 200m backstroke title she won in Kazan two years ago.

She had fought her way back from the brink to win Australia’s first gold medal in Budapest.

Seebohm, 25, was in fourth place when she made the last turn in the 200m backstroke but turned in a barnstorming final lap to snatch the gold medal from Hungarian favourite Katinka Hosszu.

In front of a raucous Hungarian crowd willing Hosszu, on Seebohm surged past the hometown girl to set a personal best time and national record of 2min5.68sec, as she won her second consecutive world title in this event.