The motherhood match

It takes sacrifice, passion and dedication to become an elite athlete, So why do so many women quit their sports careers in their prime to have a family? A new generation of female athletes is looking to change all that.

- BEVERLEY HADGRAFT

Serena Williams' victory at the Australian Open in 2017 prompted the following (male) Tweet: Serena Williams won a Grand Slam while (eight weeks) pregnant so every man should probably shut up about everything forever.

Quite.

Battling morning sickness, fatigue, hormone surges, swollen breasts, and a cardiovascular system struggling to divert blood supply to a second hu nan is an endurance event by itself. To endure all this while beating the best in the world is phenomenal. And Serena is not the only phenomenal woman.

Water polo Olympian Lea Yanitsas, for instance, won the Women's Australian National Water Polo League while 15 weeks pregnant.

“I only told my (Killer Whales] team afterward that we'd been playing with an extra person - albeit a not very helpful one," she laughs. Everyone was shocked, but at least it explained why there were times Lea had to leave the pool - she was so sick, she couldn't even eat. “I was exhausted,” she admits. “I was working three days a week as well.”

However, if Lea thought that was tough, it was nothing compared to life after she gave birth to Dino in October 2018.

Lea had used her professional expertise as a women's health physio to stay fit throughout her pregnancy. She was determined to compete in the World Championships in 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics, then scheduled for 2020, so she got back into training as soon as possible, rising at 4 am and driving to the pool with double breast pumps attached to express milk.

“I was lucky I didn't get pulled over and charged with indecent exposure!" she laughs.