“I want to come back and show other women that they can do it, too”: Jess Learmonth on her Olympic ambitions postpartum

Tokyo Olympics mixed relay gold medallist Jess Learmonth has just announced the birth of her first child, Frederick, with husband Jon. But before that momentous occasion, we snuck in a quick chat with the swim-specialist Leeds lass to talk training during pregnancy, why she hasn’t watched any triathlon all year and her Paris Olympic ambitions…

Jess on… avoiding triathlon

220: We saw you were in France during the Test Event, where did you watch it from?

Jess Learmonth: Oh, we didn’t! No. Because [husband] Jon, yeah, he’s not that into triathlon, so we were on holiday. I’m not very good at following [the series] when I’m not involved.

Because Jon’s out of the loop, he’s a gas engineer and we live a normal kind of life, it’s quite hard to keep abreast of it.

We actually got back from France by the skin of our teeth because we were a bit risky, I was 37 weeks but they let you on the ferry until about 38 weeks. But we took a car seat just in case. If we’d gone into labour, it would have been a bloody nightmare. Thankfully we didn’t.

Jess on… the joys of pregnancy

220: So… how is it going? Are you getting fed up of people saying you have ‘a lovely glow’ yet?

JL: Yeah, people keep saying I look well and I think, normally when they say that it means you’re a bit fat. People keep saying to me, ‘Oh, you’ve got a bit of a pregnancy waddle now.’ And I’m like, ‘Right, okay, that’s great’.

220: Ha! So has baby been behaving so far?

JL: The worst thing has been feet in the ribs, but I think it’s more on my liver or something. That wakes me up at night, but that’s the only discomfort I’ve had.

It was just a bit weird to get my head around it as an athlete that I’d had so long off for an injury, just about getting to the point where I was starting to think about interim races, and then to find out you’re pregnant. Obviously you’re very happy about it, but then at the same time, I’m thinking, ‘well, I’m not going to race again now for however long.’ But it’s given me the opportunity to come back and continue my career

Jess on… training through pregnancy

220: And have you been able to train throughout?

JL: Yeah, I’ve wanted to try train through it so that I can kickstart straight after the birth, really.

220: Have you reduced the training load in any way?

JL: To be honest, it’s not really reduced that much. I think the main thing was I haven’t had my heart rate above like 150 since probably January, since after 12 weeks. Since then I’ve not done anything hard, just because of the research around the blood flow to the fetus, which I can understand.

I know quite a few people that don’t think there’s enough research in it but for me as an athlete, the majority of my time I’m spending in that zone, so I decided that that was one thing I definitely wanted to keep low.

But I’ve only reduced it recently because I’ve changed things, like I ride on the turbo rather than outside. But that literally only just happened, so up until probably before France I was still training probably 20 hours a week, maybe more, and with no issues, which has been really great for me.

But everyone’s different and you’ve just got to listen to your body. So I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to do it [maintain training for so long].

Jess on… injury

220: So pre-pregnancy you were out with injury, remind us what happened there.

JL: Yeah, the last race I did was Super League Arena Games Grand Final in Singapore, and I had the injury in May 2022. I fractured my femoral neck [the hip], so it was quite a severe injury. I was on crutches for six months. I literally didn’t put weight on my foot for the whole time, so that was quite stressful.

And then I started to rehab it, everything was going very well. That was around Christmas time and I was aiming to get back racing the following, probably April, May time. And then we found out we were pregnant in January, which was a big shock to us.

I think due to the fact that I’d not raced, I’d not trained, I’d put on a lot of weight. I think I’d put on nearly three stone, maybe, that added to obviously being a lot more fertile. But it’s quite tricky for endurance athletes to get pregnant while the training is so extreme.

But the plan was to go to Paris [Olympics 2024] and then I’d have to probably retire and then have kids. So it was a good silver lining of a bad injury, if you know what I mean.

It was just a bit weird to get my head around it as an athlete that I’d had so long off for an injury, just about getting to the point where I was starting to think about interim races, and then to find out you’re pregnant.

Obviously you’re very happy about it, but then at the same time, as an athlete, I was thinking, ‘well, I’m not going to race again now for however long.’ So, it was a really weird situation, but a really happy one and it’s given me the opportunity to come back and continue my career.

Jess on… Paris Olympics ambitions

220: And the long-term plan is still Paris qualification?

JL: Yeah, we’ve obviously got a strong women’s team and it’s the same every Olympics. But I think it’s quite difficult to know what to expect when I’ve not even given birth. And I don’t know how the birth will go or what type of birth I’ll have. But yeah, the provisional plan is to get back as soon as I can, and then see how I go for Paris basically.

Because of my hips, it will be a new challenge for me and a different type of build-up in a way because obviously I’ll have a human to look after, but I’m looking forward to it, actually.

I think it’ll be a different challenge after so many years in the sport, it’s quite nice to have something different to keep your mind off it, or spice it up, really.

220: Are you still experiencing any problems from your hip injury?

JL: I’ve been running for quite a long time now and had no issues, touch wood, with my hip, which I was concerned about because obviously pregnancy is very hip related. It seems pretty strong and coping with the 75 kilograms that I am now.

It’s more about listening to your body and knowing the difference between a ligament pull and something that’s not right. Whether that’s because I’m an athlete and we’re kind of more in tune with that, it’s hard to tell. But one thing I would say that if you exercise regularly, then try keep it up

Jess on… advice from other triathlete mums

220: Have you been tapping up Vicky Holland [who had welcomed daughter Emmeline at the end of January 2023] for any advice?

JL: Yeah, it’s been quite good having Vix, she’s kind of paved the way as she’s probably one of the first athletes on the programme that’s been pregnant and come back.

So she found a female health physio that you see for your pelvic floor, so I was straight in there with them. She’s also advised on things like breastfeeding and how do it around training. The only difference with Vix was she was kind of retired when she got pregnant, but I’m really lucky to have her.

Katie Zaferes [who gave birth to son Kimble in July 2022] has given me quite a lot of advice, too. It was post Olympics for her, so again she didn’t train that much through pregnancy, but it’s just been really useful just to get their perspective on things.

220: So can you see yourself doing like Katie, who flew from the US to race WTCS Hamburg on her own with her son, a bike and several bags?

JL: Oh, I was like bloody hell I couldn’t, you know. She’s absolutely mad. I messaged her actually and I said that and she said, ‘you’ll realise soon that when you’ve got a kid, loads of people want to help you’. Even so, that is mad!

But to see her come back so fit is so impressive, I’d love to get back racing with her and basically all the squad. I really miss it, so I’m looking forward to getting back there.

But I will probably be very based in Leeds. I don’t go on many camps at all, really. I’ll be here, palming my kid off left, right and centre to family members while I go off for a run or a ride!

220: You mentioned the female health physio that you’ve been seeing, have you had access to any other pregnancy-specific coaching advice?

JL: Yeah, so we have a female health doctor who’s down in Bisham Abbey [National Sports Centre in Marlow] that I’ve been seeing through UK Sport. British Triathlon then review you every so often so they’ll give you guidelines, ’16 to 24 weeks do this’, ‘these are things advised’…

I’ve done my own research as well, but it’s very difficult because females are very under researched as it is as athletes. Then you add pregnancy to that, it’s like less research, so that’s why it’s so important to listen to your body.

I also know I’m lucky that I’m in this industry where there is a focus on antenatal and postnatal care a lot more, because I need, for example, a strong pelvic floor for running, but the amount of friends of mine that say that they can’t go on the trampoline with the kids, or they can’t laugh, and you think, that shouldn’t be a normal thing.

Jess on… training advice for expectant mums

220: What advice would you give other women wanting to continue training through pregnancy?

JL: You’ve got to listen to your body. And try not to be too scared about things because I’ve heard a lot of women that say that they get a certain ligament pulling or whatever and they just completely stop and that’s it.

Whereas through my journey I’ve had ups and downs, massively, but I’ve got a lot better than when I was like 12 weeks pregnant. It’s more about listening to your body and knowing the difference between a ligament pull and something that’s not right.

Whether that’s because I’m an athlete and we’re kind of more in tune with that, it’s hard to tell. But one thing I would say that if you exercise regularly, then try keep it up. There’s no reason that it’s harmful for the baby, be confident in your own body.

Also, try not to be scaremongered by people. Certainly the older generation who think you’re absolutely mental for doing any sort of exercise! I keep trying to say, I’m not expecting everyone else to do the same amount of exercise as I do, because that would be stupid! But because my body’s so used to it and I’m not doing intensity, I’m just ticking over, my body can definitely cope with it.

And it’s shown because I’ve had no sort of reactions or anything. So, the main thing is just listen to your body because some days can be good, some can be bad, so you just have to kind of go with the flow a little bit.

Jess on… the advancement of sport for women

220: Do you think pro sport as a whole is now more accepting and accommodating to women who want to have children and still compete?

JL: Yes, definitely. I’m lucky that we’re in an era where there’s women doing it all the time and it’s becoming quite normal. And I think maybe 10 years ago if you had a kid, you’d be seen as you were done and that was it, your career was over.

Whereas it’s proven now that you can come back and be even stronger, so it’s brilliant and I do feel just really lucky that I’ve been able to be in this era really. And to hopefully come back and show others that they can do it.

Top image credit: VSP Images