Q&A with Karla Gilbert

As one of the most renowned female athletes of her generation, Karla Gilbert took the surf lifesaving world by storm throughout the nineties. Now Karla is tackling the world of Stand Up Paddle-boarding with her two daughters and a legion of online fans in tow.

• What do you remember most about your childhood?

I remember it being spent around the beach doing some kind of water activity.  My dad has always loved the ocean whether it is sailing, windsurfing, ocean paddling, swimming, or surfing and as kids my brother and I tagged along and joined in.  Since I was 4 years old, I was doing Nippers and spending hours out in the surf catching waves on my board.  Of course there were also the early morning swimming sessions but I just saw those as 'normal'.

• At the height of your career, how intense was your training regime?

Intense is one way of describing 3 sessions a day, 6 days a week for about 48 weeks a year!  5am swim sessions with Denis Cotterell, covering about 6-7 km a day which I swam with the likes of Grant Hackett and Ky Hurst.  Midmorning was always a run or surf session working on transitions and the afternoon was again in the surf or gym.  I also had to fit in pilates, yoga, osteopathy, massages and sponsor commitments.

• Why did you retire when you did?

I guess I retired because I was tired, had two bulging discs in my back, and I was ready for the next chapter in my life.  Life as a professional sportsperson is full on and you tend to live in your own little bubble because you are just so focussed.  I knew it had to be either all or nothing so I announced my retirement 6 months prior to my last race.

• Can you still recall the emotion of your final race when you won the 2003 Australian Ironwoman Championship?

There was intense pressure being built up for me to win the event.  Anything can happen in the surf, and often does, but it was a magical day where everything went my way and the surf gods sent me off to retirement in perfect fashion.  It was a very emotional day and in all honesty, I did not consider leaving the beach that day without a gold medal.

• Do you feel you have to live up to higher expectations now that you have returned to competition?

This current return to competition is by pure accident and I still don't consider it anything more than for social and fitness purposes.  Having my two girls now, aged 2 and 5, helps me to keep everything in perspective which is great.  I can handle it as long as it fits in with my family duties as I like to think I now wear two caps, and some days I am in and out of both depending on whether I am training or doing school runs. And since stand up paddling is a different sport there is no pressure at all. I feel like the dark horse element, which I secretly love!

• Do you see a difference in surf lifesaving competitions and training today compared to ten and twenty years ago?

I don't think there will ever come a time when simply spending time in the pool or surf will ever be outdated.  There are no such things as shortcuts in professional sport.  There will always be advances in the way we approach recovery methods, nutrition, craft design and shape.  The sport was huge in the 90's and early 2000's but I think things have changed and it is maybe not as big as it once was.  This will ultimately be influenced by sponsors and their level of commitment.

• Your blog Ironmum Karla is an inspiration to the mums and athletes that follow you. What was your inspiration to start it?

Ironmum Karla (ironmumkarla.com.au) is an outlet for me to share my experiences and knowledge from a professional athlete's point of view, I have learnt so much and most of it cannot be learnt through a text book which is why I felt I wanted to share information that might be helpful to others.  Trying to fit it all in around a family unit can be hard and takes some getting used to but hopefully other mums can see me as an inspiration and start their own journeys.

• Your career in sports seems to have shaped your outlook and attitudes to the rest of your life. How?

Because life is just one big sport, and being a professional athlete has taught me so much about how to approach other issues in life.  How to deal with stress, how to deal with others, how to deal with the good and the bad etc. Professional sport puts you on show which is a true character test on how you deal with pressure and expectations.

• What's next for Karla Gilbert?

Believe it or not I'm not a big planner. I try and do my best each day and make the most of each opportunity and things seem to fall into place, luckily.  Of course there are hurdles but wouldn't life be boring without them? I have a Stand Up Paddle race in California and also Nippers starting for my eldest daughter so there is lots of exciting milestones happening all the time in all areas of my life.