Giaan Rooney

Olympic Gold Medallist Giaan Rooney has achieved success at every level of international swimming competition. A three-time World Champion boasting a career featuring 3 x Olympic Medals, 3 x Commonwealth Games Medals and 8 x FINA World Championship medals. Giaan has taken her elite training experience to bring you this exclusive Spalding performance collection.

Away from the pool, Giaan is now a Mum to 1-year old Zander and boasts an accomplished television career with Channel 7. The

Spalding ambassador is also heavily involved with a number of community initiatives including The Lort Smith Animal Hospital and Nelune Foundation. In transitioning from elite athlete status, Giaan had to learn how to love fitness for health and fun, as well as discovering the balance needed between exercise and diet to lead a healthy life.

In my previous life, I used to be an athlete. My training regime consisted of 6 hours of exercise a day, 6 days a week, for 50 weeks of the year for 10 years. Many people like to use the word ‘sacrifice’ when describing an elite athletes journey but for me, the 4.47 am starts, the hurt, the tears, the lactate, the frustrations, the kilometres, the burn, the lack of breath, the wet hair, the grind…. All allowed me to compete for my country at 3 Commonwealth Games, 2 World Championships and 2 Olympics. Experiences that I wouldn’t swap for all the money in the world, and life lessons that have completely shaped me as the person I am today.

This however, could not be more different to my reality now……

The biggest change? I don’t swim. Seriously. In nearly 9 years of retirement, I have swum 2 laps of a 50m pool for a charity. These days, the only time you will see me in a pool, is if it is 35 degrees, I am ensconced in a floating device and there is a swim up bar within eyesight. That’s it.

But on a more serious note, I also realised how naive I was when it came to exercise. How naive I was when it came to fitting exercise in to my life when it wasn’t my ‘job’. How naive I was to what type of exercise was actually right for me both physically and mentally. How naive I was to the motivation to exercise. All these things I had to learn like everyone else….. At the grand old age of 23. So after breaking my ankle during a brief flirtation with professional ice-skating (I use the term ‘professional’ very lightly!) and sweating my way through a bikram yoga binge, I found myself doing a pilates class 5 to 6 times a week, until my instructor pulled me aside one day and informed me that there was no ‘pilates Olympics’ and that 2 or 3 classes a week was plenty.

So, Giaan by Spalding had to fit within both of my workout realities, and alongside my fitness philosophies. Because these days I don’t exercise to break records, I exercise because I want to live to a ripe old age and experience the best of what life has to offer.

Therefore, I am extremely humbled to be working alongside 2 brands that are held in such high regard, and honoured to be an ambassador for Spalding’s first ever Women’s apparel range. Needless to say, I understand the responsibility I have been offered, and therefore have been as hands on as possible to bring my experiences as an elite athlete to the table, whilst also combining my current exercise

requirements as a working Mum. I have drawn on both these realities to shape and mould this range to represent qualities I believe are important to all Women when it comes to active wear….

For both ranges, quality of fabric was paramount. The high performance range features elements such as quick dry fabrics, mechanical stretch to allow movement, shrink resistance to hold shape, antibacterial properties as well as support in the areas we need it most.

The low performance range combines many of these necessities with fabric softness for extreme comfort.

Second on the list was functionality. I believe that the right sillouette with a great fit, creates confidence. So all our 3/4 tights feature a higher waistband to support our ‘curves’, hold you in, in the right places and of course, stay up! The tanks all feature a longer hemline to allow you to reach up without fear of exposing too much skin, and the relaxed fit of key pieces means they are not just confined to the gym…..which is very important to my CWA ladies AKA my Pilates class in regional Victoria where it is mandatory to not only work your butt off for 90 mins every Monday morning but then take that same butt to the local cafe for a coffee and a chat immediately after.

Which brings me to the 3rd requirement. It had to look good! To quote my friend Naomi, Women these days are not multi taskers, they are maxi taskers, so active wear is worn by Women of all ages and sizes to not only exercise, but pick the kids up from school, duck into the supermarket, catch up with the girls for lunch and travel in, so it has to fit my Mum’s favourite saying of ‘all the gear, but no idea’ which is Jan Rooney speak for as long as you look the part you don’t need to be an expert, and that is ok because you are having a go! My interpretation is, that if you put on your exercise gear and feel confident in the way you look, you will be more inclined to get out the door and actually move!

Exercise has played a huge role in my life so far, and it will always be a vital part in my future, but it isn’t the only thing necessary for a balanced and harmonious life……

I really hope that in some small way, the Giaan by Spalding for Target range inspires Women to lead a healthy, happy and vibrant life, so we can all live to 100, and look good doing it!