Life looks pretty similar for Kane Follows.
The alarm is still going off at 4.45am everyday when partner Caitlin Deans — who was recently selected for the Commonwealth Games — gets up for a morning training session.
But Follows does not have to drag himself out of bed and head to Moana Pool.
‘‘It feels quite nice to roll over and go back to sleep.’’
Follows has called time on his competitive swimming career after 20 years, going out on his own terms winning the 100m backstroke title at the national championships in Auckland.
“It feels pretty good, to be honest,’’ Follows said on retiring.
“It definitely felt like it was coming to an end, but I wasn’t really sure when it was going to happen.
“After that last race at nationals, it kind of felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I knew it was going to be the last one.’’
Working full-time as a teacher at John McGlashan College and trying to pursue life as a high performance athlete was tough, but it was still his call to hang up the swimming cap.
The 29-year-old has been swimming for “as long as I remember’’, starting as a young lad back home in Auckland, training at Mount Eden.
Looking back, there were plenty of highlights — but nothing beat competing at the Olympics.
Follows cracked a New Zealand record in the men’s 200m backstroke in 1min 57.13sec at the national championships in 2024, going under the Olympic qualifier by 0.37sec in a big personal best.
It was years of hard work coming to the fore for him to qualify for Paris.
“It’s definitely hard to go past 2024.
“The Olympic trial swim and then obviously racing at the Olympics — the dream for as long as I can remember basically was to do that.’’
But it was the people he met along the way that stayed with him the most.
“Just being able to do what I did for that long. The people you meet, being able to live in Hawaii for four years and make some best mates over there, and I met Caitlin because of swimming.
“I’ve been able to see some pretty cool places and met some pretty cool people.
“Even though it does sound cliche, other than the big one of going to the Olympics, that is probably the highlight.’’
It has not always been the easiest road for Follows.
While he represented New Zealand at the short course world championships in 2022, he missed the Tokyo Olympics, several world championships and Commonwealth Games qualifications — sometimes by the slimmest of margins.
Being able to bounce back from failure spoke to his resilience, and people often assumed because he went to the Olympics, it had all been smooth sailing.
‘‘I don’t like to talk about it myself too much, but I like to remind people that it wasn’t always easy.
‘‘It does take a toll on you. Even straight after the Olympics, that next year world champs I missed by 0.3sec and then this year I missed again, so it does take a bit of a toll.
‘‘But it definitely feels nice to know that people appreciated that around the pool deck.
‘‘I try and tell people that it wasn’t always easy and that if you stick at it, and you really enjoy something, it doesn’t matter if you miss or make the teams, as long as you’re enjoying what you’re doing it makes it worth it.’’
Follows has been lucky to have a good support network in his parents, who were national swimmers, friends who supported him through dark times, and countless coaches in Auckland, Hawaii and Dunedin.
Humer played a key role in recent years, and while Follows was under the Dunedin coach for the shortest period of his career, he ‘‘almost had the biggest impact on my career’’.
‘‘Not just with qualifying for the Olympics, but . . . that transition to being an older swimmer, to the transition of being a full-time worker,’’ Follows said.
‘‘He’s always thought I could do it and helped me through some pretty tough times.
‘‘I would say that I wouldn’t have done what I did without any of them.
‘‘Even Lars would be the first to admit that it’s not just him, but I think he played a massive part.’’
Follows’ full focus is on the classroom now, helping coach a school basketball team and trotting around the golf course with his new free time.
He has not touched the water since the national championships and planned to take a break before giving back.
‘‘I think it having been such a big part of my life for so long I need to step back, and reassess, and then go back to the pool when the timing feels right.
‘‘I definitely want to help out and probably end up coaching a little bit.
‘‘I feel like I’d love to give back to the sport — it has given me quite a lot in my life.’’
