Roland Schoeman has been to an incredible four Olympic Games and is one of South Africa's most decorated Olympians. In Athens 2004, he was part of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay that won Gold against the heavily favoured Americans and Australians, and also came away with 2 individual medals - a silver in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 50m. Over his almost 16 year career, he broke 5 world records and was multiple World and Commonwealth Champion.
By his own admission he was a typical 'Type A' personality - hyper driven, competitive and focused. While this helped him to become one of the best swimmers in the world, as is so often the paradox in sport, it also wrecked havoc with his wellbeing and happiness.
In this open and honest discussion, Roland talks about the dark moments in his career and how after narrowly missing out on his 5th Olympic Games in 2016, he realised something needed to change. He describes his journey over the past four years to becoming a kinder, gentler version of himself, and finding peace with himself and life.