In her own words, Katarina Roxon was “in a very good place” following the London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships.

The national team veteran had just achieved her best result in her fifth career appearance at Worlds, a silver medal in her specialty event, the 100-m breaststroke SB8. She also claimed bronze in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay 34 points.

At the time, Roxon was feeling great about defending her Paralympic Games gold medal in the 100 breast SB8 at Tokyo 2020.

“I was so excited, so pumped for Tokyo,” says the native of Kippens, N.L., one of 32 Canadians set to compete at the 2022 Worlds in Madeira, Portugal, from June 12-18. “Everything was going great. My motivation was way up there.

“Just before the (COVID-19) shutdown, it was the first week of March, I was at a competition, and I felt so ready. Ready for Tokyo, ready for Trials. I was super confident and very happy with where I was at that moment.”

As was the case for so many athletes, Roxon’s preparation for the Games, her fourth, was then greatly affected by the global pandemic.

“The one-year postponement of the Games was a real bummer. It was a major letdown. Again, part of it was because I felt so ready.

“Mentally, I tried to be the best that I could be. I tried to keep up with my training, what I could do, obviously. The pools were shut down in Newfoundland, everything was shut down. I had a gym set up in our house. I was working out every day. I was outside a lot, anything to keep myself active. It was OK for a while but… Slowly but surely, for me, the year 2020 became kind of a write-off.”

Once in Japan, 12 months later than expected, Roxon didn’t have the Games she had hoped for.

While she contributed to Canada’s bronze medal in the women’s 4×100 free relay, she finished fourth in the 100 breast and missed the final in her two other individual events.

“The best way I can describe Tokyo is, it was an experience,” says the now 29-year-old. “Being at the Games, racing in the middle of a pandemic, no one had done that. I had nothing to compare it to. It wasn’t like the previous Games I had been to.

“The way I look at it, every experience, whether it’s good or bad, is an experience. I’m very grateful for all of them because they’re all learning lessons. So I took everything in while we were in Tokyo. The racing side of it, it didn’t go at all the way I wanted it to. It was a rough competition. But it was an experience and I’m truly grateful for it. I think it’s definitely one of the Games I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

To say Madeira 2022 wasn’t at the top of Roxon’s priority list when she returned from Tokyo would be an understatement.

In fact, swimming wasn’t, period. So much so that she stayed away from the pool for over five months.

“I took a huge mental, physical, emotional break,” Roxon says. “I truly needed it. My body and my mind needed it. And it was probably one of the best things I’ve done since I’ve been on the national team. I didn’t know I needed a break until I came back to swimming in February. When I came back I told myself ‘You know what Katarina, you needed that break.’

“It completely changed me, and my goals, and my motivation, everything. It made me come back even stronger, probably the strongest I’ve ever been. I’ve now been in the water since the middle of February and every single day is just an amazing day. My motivation is just incredibly high.”

One of the questions Roxon asked herself during her much-needed break was whether maybe, just maybe, it was time to put an end to her decorated career.

“There were moments when I had my doubts,” she says. “I was thinking ‘Do I want this to be the end?’ So I struggled with that. It’s a conversation I had with myself and with my dad, who is also my coach. We talked about that. Is that the way I want to finish my career off? My dad was very supportive and said whatever my decision was, he would support me.

“I definitely had that internal fight with myself. But I was kind of always leaning towards taking a break, see how I feel, and then get back in the water. I think I knew deep down that I wasn’t ready to retire. That’s not how I wanted to leave the sport. I wasn’t done with swimming. I wasn’t done with the sporting world. I’m not done being the best Katarina Roxon there is.”

Her father and coach at the Aqua Aces Swim Club, Leonard, is proud of how his daughter has handled the past few months.

“Tokyo was a devastating blow to Katarina, despite coming home with a bronze medal in the relay. We talked about it at length after she had time to process it herself. Her decision to take that extra time off and figure out for herself if she wanted to come back was essential and has proved to be very wise.

“I’m very happy for her that she decided to come back and proud of the way she handled such major disappointments, learning from it and moving forward. After all, that is what life is all about. Learning from our experiences and using them to become a better person each day.”

The younger Roxon says that while the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials held in April served as a final confirmation, she knew even before she got to Victoria she had made the right decision.

“I just felt absolutely amazing. I felt so good in the water. I knew before we got to Trials that I was going to do well. But I didn’t know how well I was going to do.

“I had great swims in all of my events. I had never made a qualifying standard for world championships in all of my events before, and this is my sixth world championships,” adds Roxon, who made her Worlds debut as a 13-year-old back in 2006.

As for her expectations heading into Madeira 2022, the seasoned veteran says she is simply trusting the process.

“I’m not going to say I’m 100 per cent ready yet. But I feel good, very confident. I’m trusting what I’m doing in the water.

“More importantly, I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the years is just trust in God, and that God has me, and he has a purpose for every single thing. Looking back, and looking at where I am now, I think God had a purpose for me to swim how I did in Tokyo because it honestly made me come back even stronger and better than I was. You always can grow and learn from every experience, good or bad. I think that’s what God was putting me through and teaching me in Tokyo.”