COLEMAN Michelle

General
RETIREMENT THOUGHTS
She considered retiring from the sport following a poor performance at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, but was convinced to reconsider by her national teammate Sarah Sjostrom. "I have the world's best sounding board really. She has gone through everything, even those times when she missed the boat and disappointment at the [2012] London Olympics so I usually think I'm four years after Sarah in development. Now it was my turn to have the disappointment and learn from it. She said it was only when she did not take it so heavily and let go [of the disappointment] it started to go well. And I know, I knew that before Budapest too. But it's hard, I'm not a person who doesn't take things seriously." (expressen.se, 14 Dec 2017)

SHOULDER ISSUES
She has suffered from shoulder pain during her career. In 2018 she took a recovery break and returned at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. "I noticed when we got to the longer distances, the basic training that had been required might not really be there. There are no problems with that, but it is clear that I will always have a bad shoulder. The break has helped me see new perspectives, both in sports and having learned the physical and mental aspects of swimming. When I drive hard I could fell the pain and it has been something I always need to balance in my career [speaking in 2021]. It is important to keep a fine line in the training, to push, but not push over the limit. But you also notice that you start to get older." (svt.se, 15 Apr 2021; expressen.se, 20 Jul 2019; dn.se, 04 Feb 2016)

DUAL CITIZENSHIP
She has citizenship for both Sweden and New Zealand. (puori.com, 10 Jan 2020)